Tag: karma

Does an Employer take the Employee’s Karma?

A devotee grapples with the weighty concerns of karma and how it burdens employers through their employees’ actions. His anxiety reflects a larger existential dilemma: can sincere devotion offset the negative karma from associates who resist spiritual growth? Replies from spiritual leaders emphasize that true surrender to Krishna liberates one from such burdens. However, they also underscore personal accountability in leadership roles, balancing professionalism and compassion. Ultimately, the discourse reveals a timeless struggle: navigating spiritual principles in the cutthroat world of business while striving to uplift those around you.

Bhakta Sunil, 29 September 2014

Hare Krishna

Please accept my humble obeisances

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

Prabhu ji I have few doubts

a) How much percentage of karma does employer take of each of his or her employee

b) If employer is sincerely practising Krishna Consciousness , though not at the place of work with employee ( not with employee , but on own ) then karma from employee to employer is reduced or nullified?

I am a bit worried because we have two employees at shop. I tried many times to directly or indirectly share Krishna Consciousness with them.

Sometimes they paid attention , but one of the employee returned the book which I gave and I am not sure if they practice God Consciousness.

At times I have noticed them behaving rudely or not giving due respect to customers. So I am worried if we have to take their karma.

I have put Prabhupada’s books and photos at place of work and often played kirtana at place of work

your insignificant servant,

Bhakta Sunil

Srivatsa Das, 03 October 2014

Dear Bhakta Sunil

Please accept my humble obeisances

All glories to Srila Gurudeva 

The employer, if he is surrendered to Lord Krishna, he need not worry about karma, or law of nature or destiny and all such complications, since Krishna has already declared that His devotee never perishes.  And also in BG 18.66, Krishna tells, “Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.”  We will be free from fear up to the extent we have faith in the Spiritual master and Krishna.  So it is very important to develop faith in them. 

We cannot force anybody including our children to lead Krishna Conscious life unless they are attracted themselves to Krishna Consciousness.  Everybody has been given the required free will to surrender to Krishna and they are supposed to use it for that purpose and unfortunately, they can even misuse it also by not surrendering to the Lord.

Regarding the rude behaviour, it can be due to many reasons.  In this material world, a lot of people are frustrated due to many miseries, that could be one of the reason for their rude behaviour.  But, in most of the cases, the problems can be solved just by hearing their worries patiently at suitable location.  We need not talk in many cases, but sometimes we need to encourage them to talk. Just hear their worries patiently and attentively.  Most of the times, they themselves will arrive at the solution and thank us too !!! or they will ask for some suggestion, then, at that time we can give some suggestions that can help them to lead a Krishna Conscious life.  Sometimes, we may have to correct ourselves too based on their input, so we should be prepared for some adjustments.  This is one way of solving the issue.

Sincerely,

Srivatsa Das

Bhakta Sunil, 04 October  2014

Thank you Srivatsa Prabhu

Superb answer!

your insignificant servant,

Bhakta Sunil

Gusti Nyoman Ambara, 04 October 2014

Hare Krishna!

Dear Sunil Prabhu

Please accept my humble obeisances,

All glories to Srila Gurudeva and  Srimati Gurumataji,

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I have no qualification at all to share my opinion with you, but I would humbly try to do it as per my capacity.

Srivatsa Prabhu have nicely given the explanation upon your doubts. It is true that if we are fully surrender to the Lord, we do not have to worry about karma and such things anymore. Always try to focus in making the Lord happy by executing our prescribed duties at our best and offered the result to Him no matter what it is. Then there will be no more anxiousness.

You also nicely show the symptom of a devotee by having compassion on your employees and try to share Krishna-consciousness to them. Indeed, it is the most important thing. I think you have correctly tried to do it by putting some Prabupada’s book and playing some kirtans at the place of work, because hearing (sravanam) is the most potent way for us to open our consciousness to Krishna. I myself also have proved this method.  My mother started to chant Mahamantra on beads about a year ago. She told me that she was inspired to do so soon after she heard it played in my car stereo during our 8-hours journey from Bali to Surabaya.

If those things still do not work with your employees, I suggest you to give another try by using prasadam. It is also a powerful way to share Krishna-consciousness to the whole world. You can make some prasadam in the form of candies or sweets and put some of them at the place of work, so that your employees can have and taste them. You will gradually see the effect and surely you will no longer have any worries. Thank you very much.

your insignificant servant,

Gusti Nyoman Ambara

Bhakta Sunil, 06 October 2014

Dear Gusti Prabhu

Hare Krishna 

Please accept my humble obeisances

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

Thank you very much. Your answer is great!

Prabhu ji , I now understand that karma of one’s employee would not act for one who is practising Consciousness

Gusti Prabhu ki Jaya!

Your insignificant servant,

Bhakta Sunil

Tirtharaja Dasa, 07 10 2014

Hare Krishna Prabhu,

My take is from a different angle and might not be absolute but good for debate.

It is said that anybody in a position of leadership attracts both positive and negative karma in proportion to position held.

In a business situation if you are the chief executive then there definitely be a degree of karmic reaction just as much as the spiritual master who accepts a disciple has accruing karma until the disciple is liberated so in similar positions of leadership especially in situations where as devotees we are DE-facto spiritual masters, then there is definitely some accruing karma.

That’s why a devotee will not mind what position or circumstances he has in life but will always serve Lord Hari unconditionally.

Regards,

your Lowly Servant,

Tirtharaja Dasa.

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 08 October 2014

Dear Bhakta Sunil,

Hare Krishna!

All these perspectives are wonderful. What I was feeling I was unable to articulate, until I read Tirtharaja Prabhu’s masterful writing. His response is befitting a senior devotee in our movement.

What I was thinking is that all those people we interact with, either as family members, community, relatives, colleagues from school, college, or work, we are already karmically bound with them. We have taken birth in similar circumstances just to enjoy or suffer collective karmas, and also repay various karmic debts. But this is a never-ending cycle… in this lifetime, we have some set of karmic debts to pay, in another cycle, it is some other set.

So, while it is true that as long as we are on the material platform, we are exchanging karmic debts, as long as we can leverage our present circumstances to drive devotional service, the situation cannot be rectified.

On a professional level, your staff need to get good training, good pay,  etc., and in the worst case, if there is no progress or improvement, they would need to be fired, let go, etc. If I pay someone for a kilo of good vegetables and the person gives me only rotten vegetables, would I continue to pay that person? So inspite of giving good training, good pay, etc., if someone is not doing what I need done, then why should I continue to pay that person? Another example, ISKCON is building the Temple of Vedic Planetarium, the world’s biggest temple, we are taking full care that the engineers are qualified, the architects are qualified, the laborers are also fully qualified, the concrete is high quality, steel is perfect, etc. Of course, even though the workers are receiving payment, they are still getting the benefit of rendering devotional service.

In ISKCON Toronto, we are working on some school projects – the administrators, teachers, etc., need to be devotees, BUT they also must be professionally qualified in their specific field and be professionally competent… you could consider that, maybe there are professionally competent devotees who can also be your employees?

However, devotee or not, in the best case, even if your staff might not know or express interest in devotional service, if they are perfectly professional, and they facilitate your involvement in devotional service, they will also get some “ajnata sukrti”, or credit obtained by performing devotional service unknowingly.

Of course, you don’t expect that we will tell you how to run your business, right? You please take all these perspectives and do what is best for Krishna consciousness.

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Bhakta Sunil, 18 October 2014

Thank you  Tirtharaja Prabhu and Mahabhagavat Prabhu for discerning the conversation even further

I had heard in Bhagavatam lecture , that king collects karma from citizens and similarly for employers from employees

Thus I asked here to clarify

After reading  Tirtharaja Prabhu and Mahabhagavat Prabhu’s reply , it further clarified what I understood in the lecture and what to do in such a situation

Tirtharaja Prabhu and Mahabhagavat Prabhu ki Jaya!

your insignificant servant,

Bhakta Sunil

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.ecstaticmedia.com), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

Can Anyone Engage in Devotional Service? Is Good Karma required? Key Insights

Is spiritual advancement not possible for someone who has not done good deeds before? The discussion emphasizes that devotional service is accessible to everyone, regardless of past karma. The mercy of a pure devotee is crucial for spiritual growth, allowing even those with sinful backgrounds to engage in devotion. Ultimately, faith and appreciation can be cultivated through this divine grace, inspiring a hopeful journey toward Krishna Consciousness. Won’t you try? Hare Krishna!

Bhakta Sunil, 9 December 2015

Hare Krishna every one

Please help understand the following lines from Bhagavatam 2.7.15 Purport :

Every living entity is always distressed in this material world because this place is such that at every step one has to meet with some kind of distress. But one who is supported by his past good deeds engages himself in the devotional service of the Lord, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (7.16). Those who are supported by impious acts cannot be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, even though they are distressed. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (7.15)

Does this mean, one has to have past good karma in order to engage in devotional service?

Thanks in anticipation

your insignificant servant,
Sunil

Sudarshan Das, 9 December 2015
Hare Krishna,

Prabhuji, Devotional service is for everybody. Bhagavad Gita and the Maha Mantra is freely available to the people of the world because of Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. Srila Gurudev extends this mercy via the free online course. But does everybody take it? You are such an enthusiastic preacher and I am sure you talk about Krishna Consciousnesses to many people, but how many of them take it?

For a soul to be able to appreciate devotional service, they should at least be in mode of goodness in some form or the other. This consciousnesses is defined by past deeds. Lord Buddha preached non-violence to the people, so that they will at least leave the sinful life of meat eating and come to goodness so that they appreciate devotional service and take it up. That sukriti is required, it can be a agyat sukriti also, one that you get unknowingly like appreciating a devotee for the amazing kirtan he did..

To conclude, for one to appreciate and take up devotional service, good karmas create a favorable situation. If one has the causeless mercy of the Lord then the soul will surrender under any situation. 🙂

your servant,
Sudarshan Das

Amala-Purana Das, 9 December 2015
Hi Sunil,

In response to your question: Does this mean, one has to have past good karma in order to engage in devotional service?

Answer: No. one does not need to have past good karma to engage in devotional service. It’s only the mercy of a pure devotee that one can take to devotional service and become a pure devotee. Pious persons are qualified to take to devotional service not exactly because of their piety, but because piety attracts a pure devotee’s mercy. It is the mercy of the Lord’s devotee and nothing else that destroys sins and establishes faith in bhakti

Srila Prabhupada informs us in BG 7.16 Purport:
“When these four kinds of persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service and are completely purified by the association of a pure devotee, they also become pure devotees. As far as the miscreants are concerned, for them devotional service is very difficult because their lives are selfish, irregular and without spiritual goals. But even some of them, by chance, when they come in contact with a pure devotee, also become pure devotees.”

Also, Lord Krishna confirms in BG 4.36:
“Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of miseries.”

Hope it helps

your servant,
Amala-Purana Das

Amala-Purana Das, 9 December 2015
Adding further:

In Caitanya lila, we see how most sinful of all sinners, Jagai and Madhai were delivered by the mercy of Lord Nityananda

Also, there is a famous verse in Caitanya Caritamrta (Madhya 19.151), quoted often by Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

“According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.”

your servant,,
Amala-Purana Das

Bhakta Sunil, 12 December 2015
Jaya Sudarshan Prabhu and Amala-Purana Prabhu. The doubts have been dispelled

Sudarshan Prabhu, I also remember your enthusiasm of how you had helped another member in this forum, by giving analogy of ceiling fan taking time to come to halt after switching it off

Amala-Purana Prabhu, both of your answers have successfully vanquished the doubt

your insignificant servant,
Bhakta Sunil


Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.ecstaticmedia.com ), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

Rapid fire questions… selfless service, amanina mana dena in marriage, Krishna Consciousness in a calamity, karma vs. compassion, free will, our anchor…

This article contains a series of questions and answers… it explores the essence of selfless service, emphasizing that true selfless action arises from a pure devotee’s desire to please Krishna, devoid of personal gain. It highlights how harmonious relationships are built on mutual respect. It also discusses how the Internal process of chanting Hare Krishna mbrings peace in challenging times. Understanding the difference between karmic reactions and divine mercy (kripa) allows devotees to perceive their experiences as opportunities for growth. Ultimately, it reinforces the concept of humility and service, reminding individuals of their role as servants of the lowliest servants in devotion to Krishna.

QUESTION 1) We talk a lot about selfless service, but can you pls tell one action devoid of gain in return?


MBD: Selfless service is not possible unless for a pure devotee, who does service for service sake. In all lower states of Bhakti, all service benefits the performer, even if it may benefit others. The higher the stage of the performer’s advancement, the more it benefits others. It benefits the performer less than it benefits others. Take any service. Krishna’s service to the living entities is always selfless. He does not need anything from anyone in return. Same with the spiritual master. He only seeks Krishna’s pleasure.

1.1) Can there be an action without result?


MBD: When you say result, do you mean “karmic” result? All action that is not purely transcendental has karmic reactions… everything in the modes. Devotional service has no karmic results. Still, there are devotional results. These start with the pleasure of Krishna and the purification of the heart of the devotee, etc.

(The question above is from before our discussion today.)

From what I have learned/heard: Anand/ Sukh (Bliss / Pleasure) is the ultimate goal of every action. So if the action is intended for the pleasure of the Lord, it is selfless. But if it is directed towards sense gratification or tries to satisfy sego, then it is selfish action.


MBD: Yes, you have the right understanding.

QUESTION 2) Does the phrase “amanina man dena…” apply in a husband/wife relationship?


MBD: Yes, it applies to all relationships. If 2 souls are perfectly in amanina (not expecting any respect), they experience a state of harmony. When they are in manadena (giving all respect), they are also in perfect harmony with the will of Krishna. They are thus very happy. Easier said than done.

QUESTION 3) In the most unbeatable calamity, what is your internal process in terms of Krishna Consciousness? What is the first thing that comes to your mind?


MBD: I chant Hare Krishna, if I can chant at all. In general, we are in good shape if we can make chanting the Lord’s name a reflex action. This should apply to anything that happens, whether good or bad. We can test how far we have come when something unexpected happens, good or bad.

QUESTION 4) How do we distinguish between the reactions of Karma from Kripa?


MBD: Kripa is undeserved, no one in material consciousness deserves it. For example getting Krishna Prasadam is a great privilege. You may have the karmic credits to be able to eat, digest, etc., but there is no karmic action that can “earn” you Krishna Prasasdam. Whatever our prarabdha is must be experienced without fail. Even pure devotees apparently enjoy or suffer karmic reactions. But Krishna gives them whatever is needed for others’ sake. This is to teach others by personal example. For devotees in the middle, Krishna can use karmic reactions to pat us on the back. He can also kick us in the butt, through maya or yogamaya. All devotional experiences, in general, are purely Kripa.

From what I have learned/heard: If something is happening to me/happened with me, it MUST be my prarabdh karma. But interpreting it as the mercy of the Lord helps. He is “kartum akartum anyatha kartum.” This helps to remain Krishna conscious in the moment. It erases the distinguishing line between karma and kripa.


MBD: That is where the attitude comes in. Whatever happened is by Krishna’s sanction. The devotee will see Krishna’s hand and understand the takeaway. The nondevotee will only try to adjust the situation to “avoid/improve/prevent/etc.” You are on the right track.

QUESTION 5) Do we really have freewill? (If Lord is the enjoyer/doer of all actions, and we are but a medium) So whatever “we think” has been done by us has actually been done by Him, no?


MBD: Knowing what you will do, and forcing you to do it are two different things. It’s like a parent. The parent knows what the child will do in a given situation. Nonetheless, they leave the child free in a limited way. This freedom allows the child to learn. In the material sense, Krishna is a non-doer. The 3 modes of material nature are set in motion by Krishna. They are the doer. In the devotional sense, Krishna does not know how exactly the devotee is going to serve Him. When Radharani cooks something, Krishna knows it will be amazing, but does not know what exactly it will be. He can know it if He wants, but Yogamaya overpowers His knowability. It is like Krishna’s Sarvajnata (all-knowing nature) and mugdhata (innocence) exist together. This would be a contradiction normally, but all contradictions converge and are resolved in Krishna.

QUESTION 6) What is that ONE anchor point to be aware of every time?


MBD: I am a servant of the servant of the servant. I serve at least as far as the extent of the current disciplic succession of Krishna. But I am a servant of all devotees, past, present, and future.

Lord Ganesha’s topmost blessing

It’s the Festival of Lord Ganesha! Millions of people are praying for all sorts of benedictions. Do you know what Lord Ganesha’s highest blessing is? What will you ask for?

As I write this, today is an auspicious day known as Ganesh Chaturthi. It’s the 4th day of the month of Bhadra, according to the Luni-Solar Vedic calendar.

On this day, millions of people in India and other parts of the world worship Lord Ganesha, known by many names like Ganapati, Lambodara, Vakratunda, Mahakaya, Vighneshwara, Vinayaka, etc.

Lord Ganesha is a universal favourite, even among those who don’t follow the Vedic tradition. His rotund figure, his elephant head with big ears, tusks, long trunk and cheerful disposition makes him a very lovable deity.

Lord Ganesha, pictured with his Mother Parvati Devi, and Father Lord Shiva.

Lord Ganesha, pictured with his Mother Parvati Devi, and Father Lord Shiva.

Lord Ganesha is the son of Mother Parvati and Lord Shiva, who are practically the parents of the material world. He is a very special deity, in charge of elimination of obstacles. Obstacles may be in many forms, and he is tasked with the service of removing them. And this is how Lord Ganesha is empowered…

yat-pāda-pallava-yugaṁ vinidhāya kumbha-
dvandve praṇāma-samaye sa gaṇādhirājaḥ
vighnān vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Synonyms
yat — whose; pāda-pallava — lotus feet; yugam — two; vinidhāya — having held; kumbha-dvandve — upon the pair of tumuli; praṇāma-samaye — at the time of offering obeisances; saḥ — he; gaṇa-adhirājaḥ — Gaṇeśa; vighnān — obstacles; vihantum — to destroy; alam — capable; asya — of these; jagat-trayasya — three worlds; govindam — Govinda; ādi-puruṣam — the original person; tam — Him; aham — I; bhajāmi — worship.

Translation
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, whose lotus feet are always held by Gaṇeśa upon the pair of tumuli protruding from his elephant head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all the obstacles on the path of progress of the three worlds.

Śrī brahma-saṁhitā 5.50

There are very grand celebrations all over… attracting millions of souls. The opulence of these celebrations is hard to describe in words.

A temporary Opulent Ganesh Pandal setup in India.

A temporary Opulent Ganesh Pandal setup in India.

Many souls undergo tremendous austerities and penances during this festival, which can span from 1 to 12 days. In return for these efforts, they ask for blessings which are often granted, depending on whether a person deserves those or not.

However, most of these blessings are temporary, like someone asking for more money, offspring, a better home, health, and so on…

Lord Ganesha accompanied by thousands of devotees, in procession

Lord Ganesha accompanied by thousands of devotees, in procession

However, many of the “worshipers” also degrade themselves by indulging in low class activities like materialistic movie songs, partaking of meat, and intoxicants like tobacco, alcohol, and in these modern days, even hard drugs.

Then, in that intoxicated state, they dance for hours and hours, part of long processions.

What really saddens me though, is that most people don’t realize that the greatest blessing of Lord Ganesha are contained within the great magnum opus Mahabharata, as the 700-verse Bhagavad Gita.

Veda Vyasa recited the Mahabharata, all of 100,000 verses, and Lord Ganesha acted as His scribe… and in this way, the treatise became available to us, unfortunate conditioned souls.

Veda Vyasa Recites the Mahabharata, containing the Bhagavad Gita and Lord Ganesha serves as the scribe.

Veda Vyasa Recites the Mahabharata, containing the Bhagavad Gita and Lord Ganesha serves as the scribe.

Within those 700 verses, one can learn about:

  • One’s own spiritual identity
  • The purpose of human life
  • The cause of one’s material bondage in the cycle of birth, death, old age, disease
  • The identity of the Supreme Absolute Truth, Krishna
  • One’s relationship with Krishna, and
  • The way to end this material tribulation once and for all

In fact, the Bhagavad Gita covers these main topics, covered in my Introduction to Bhagavad Gita series of classes, contact me to join:

  • Jiva – the spirit soul
  • Karma – the cycle of action and reaction
  • Prakriti – this material nature we currently inhabit
  • Kala – The Time Factor that moves everything
  • Bhagavan – the Supreme Absolute Truth, Krishna

Anyone who carefully studies and acts on the instructions of the Bhagavad Gita will not have any more obstacles… not just temporarily, but for all of eternity!

मत्कर्मकृन्मत्परमो मद्भ‍क्त: सङ्गवर्जित: ।
निर्वैर: सर्वभूतेषु य: स मामेति पाण्डव ॥ ५५ ॥

mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo
mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu
yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava

My dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being – he certainly comes to Me.

Bg. 11.55

As I pass by the various installations of Lord Ganesha during my travels in the Holy Land of India, what I will be praying for? That all the obstacles in my pathway to understanding the Bhagavad Gita may be removed, and that I may serve Lord Ganesha in propagating the Bhagavad Gita all over the world, in every town and village.

What will you pray for?

Next Class: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Summary – Part 2 May 3/4 2024

In this exciting journey through Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita, we delve into the essence of spiritual wisdom. Krishna compassionately guides Arjuna as he unveils profound truths about spirit, duty, devotion, and enlightenment. This immersive course offers a transformative experience, with online classes and accessible recordings. Join us for an enlightening exploration!

Hare Krishna!

We explored an introduction to the first part of Chapter 2, and now part 2 coming up.

Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita is called “सांख्ययोग” / “Saankhya Yoga” – Contents of the Gita Summarized.

Krishna, the Perfect Teacher, summarizes the subject matter of the Bhagavad Gita in this course.

Arjuna, paralyzed by his material compassion, accepts Krishna as his spiritual master. Krishna first berates Arjuna, and then masterfully begins to instruct Arjuna.

Actually, Arjuna, as Krishna’s eternal associate, needs no instruction, but Arjuna is playing the part of the rest of us materially entangled souls so that Krishna can mercifully delivery the knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita to us, those whose need is great.

We explore how Krishna explains this knowledge from different perspectives… Krishna appeals to Arjuna’s sense of honour and chivalry as a warrior, then explains the fundamental spiritual truths regarding the soul, and in terms of the duty of the embodied soul, the art of work without attachment – karma yoga.

Krishna goes on to explain working in devotion, working in Love for the Supreme, Bhakti Yoga, with permanent and ever-increasing bliss beyond the short-lived results from the Vedic rituals.

Arjuna asks intelligent questions, and then Krishna describes the fully enlightened Bhakti Yogi, the perfect Jiva.

The topics introduced in this second chapter will be explained in detail in later chapters, and Chapter 2 serves as a key to the rest of the Gita.

We rely on the Bhagavad Gita As It Is with translations and purports by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, as our textbook.

Please contact if you’re interested in joining this course.

Next Class is online, on Friday May 3 / Saturday May 4, depending on your timezone. The class is online and recordings are available to everyone registered.

Thank you for engaging me in the study of Bhagavad Gita.

When did the immortal soul get attached to Karmic Debts?

If a spirit soul is eternally existent, and karmic reactions only attach when in the material realm, how could spirit souls originally accumulate karmic debt?

Question:

If souls always existed , how did karmic substance get attached to the souls for the first time ?

Answer:

There are an unlimited number of spirit souls, manifesting eternally from Krishna for the purpose of having a loving relationship with Him. An infinitesimal fraction of them decide to enjoy separately from Krishna. That is an infinitely large number…

Why? Because for love, there must be free will. There must be the freedom to leave. Krishna does not force anyone to love Him. He gives them freedom to leave if they wish to.

But when a living entity comes from the spiritual realm, the only position fit for the soul is as Lord Brahma of a Universe. There are an unlimited number of Universes, and therefore an unlimited number of Brahma posts available.

Some of these Brahmas are Bhaktyonmukhi (devotionally inclined) Brahmas, in other words, they see the material world and make a U-turn and go back home back to Godhead, after that one lifetime as Brahma.

Some of them, foolishly, are Bahir Mukha (materially inclined) Brahmas, choose to experience other lifetimes, say, as Indra, Chandra, as an Apsara, and so on…

The way karmic reactions work, one karmic action is sufficient to create an unlimited number of reactions. Why? Think of a banyan tree that gives figs… how many seeds are there inside each fruit? And how many trees can sprout from one fruit? In other words, how many banyan trees are inside one little seed? Actions and reactions, easily and quickly pile up.

Remaining inside karma chakra, the cycle of fruitive action and reaction, or doing things like trying to be artificially nonviolent is of no use. We unavoidably create karmic reactions at every moment, just by breathing, speaking, eating, or sleeping.

How to get rid of all of them?

By performing devotional service, Bhakti.

This is what the Padma Purana says…

aprarabdha phalam papam
kutam bijam phalon-mukham
kramenaiva praliyeta
vishnu bhakti ratatmanam

Karmic reactions exist as manifest as fruits, unmanifest, hidden, in seed form etc., but they are gradually destroyed through the process of vishnu bhakti.

Therefore Krishna says:

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा श‍ुच: ॥ ६६ ॥

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/66

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth?

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? Where does that leave us all? And if we don’t want to get involved, what can we do instead?

All over the world, whether between nations, or between adherents of different religious traditions, or persons of different ideological beliefs, or even competing business interests, there is constant strife. This strife is increasing, not just disagreements but heinous acts of violence, including war.

The idea behind this is that “they harmed us, we must get them back”. But what is perceived as righteous by one group is perceived as an atrocity by another. That incident is then recorded and narrated as something that must be avenged.

And so the cycle continues.

For example, as I write this, there is a full-scale war going in Palestine between Hamas and Israel. There is another one going in Ukraine between the Russian and the Ukrainian governments. Similar conflicts rage on in parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, The Americas, and Europe.

map showing israel and palestine

Neither are these conflicts are localized… for example some supporters of Palestine are openly manifesting aggression against Jewish people. Some Ukrainians and Russians in other parts of the world don’t get along with each other, even if they belong to other common groups, such as nationality or profession.

flags of the united nations, ukraine and russia

Many unrelated parties have taken sides, looked at the available facts, and made a decision in their minds as to who is right, and who is wrong. They support the conflict by adding fuel to the fire, either with their thoughts, words, or deeds. Some may supply money and weapons, or intelligence.

Everyone who has taken sides has become implicated in these conflicts, sure to be drawn in just as a moth is drawn to a flame.

moth flying towards a flame

I don’t know how far back in time the seeds of hatred were sown in these conflicts. But I surely know that many many, countless seeds are being sown now. Many of those trees will bear innumerable trees, thorns, flowers, and fruit.

Based on our violent past, we have a violent present. Based on the violent present, we are sure to experience a violent future.

what seeds are we sowing?

It is not that conflict is unavoidable. In the material world, where everyone has arrived with a “I’m #1, me first, me me me” consciousness, conflict is inevitable. Nor can violence be prevented, in a world in which simply to breathe or move or eat means to commit horrendous violence on other living entities.

Of course, not all violence is created equal. There is violence that comes naturally through the acts of God, and there is violence we beget on our own accord, often quite against the injunctions of God.

For example, in the Middle East, there are supposed to be at least 3, yes, three major “religions of peace”. They are all supposed to be “brothers of the book”… they all share the same prophets, and the same sets of instructions. And yet, they fight worse than cats and dogs. Yes, I’m talking about the Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Middle East.

Why do they fight so?

me first, me me me

So what is one to do with all this?

First of all, we must recognize that the Law of Karma dictates the” eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” idea. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, whether desirable or undesirable. The law of karma is infallible and inescapable.

What goes around, indeed does come around.

Karma the laws of nature

But more importantly, as my mentor Rupanuga Prabhu likes to say “Who died and made you judge”, in other words, we are not meant to intentionally try and become instruments of the Law of Karma.

Everyone will suffer earthquakes, pestilence, famine, heat, cold, and other vagaries of nature. Everyone is sure to grow old, get sick, and die. We don’t have to enforce any karmic reaction on anyone… their own genes are already encoded with the results of their karmic reactions.

The Law of Karma, according to the Universal arrangements of God, takes it’s own course. Horrible incidents will happen, even if we don’t try to cause them!

karma - what goes around comes around

For example, a person who has wronged others will naturally end up being wronged himself. A cheater will surely get cheated. A merchant of death will surely reap death as profit.

A person will be born in the specific time, place, and circumstance that has been cooked up for them to experience the results of their past activities… no one needs to explicitly serve them justice…

the karmic tree is endless, and the enjoyment and suffering from it are endless

Have you ever thought why one child is born in the relative safety of a country like Norway, and another is born in Gaza in the middle of the eye of the storm? It’s called karma, both individual and collective.

Why is one child born a prince and another born as the daughter of a prostitute?

Even so, due to our attachments with the external designations of the body, we surely may find ourselves getting involved, in one way or another, even if it may be well outside of our duty. How can we avoid getting swept away?

First of all, we must remember not to identify ourselves as this body.

The moment we identify ourselves as this body, then insults and injustices done to the body become part of our consciousness. Injustices done to bodies related to our bodies become as if our own. Even though the body is temporary, and is meant to bite the dust, still, the adopted consciousness that we, the riders of these bodies acquire, lasts well beyond the destruction of this body.

We are not this body, we are not the mind.

we are spirit souls, not these bodies, not these minds

Next we must remember that God does not take sides

God is One. However, you may know God, we should know that God is God of all Creation, not just mine or yours. God is beyond all understandings of religion, God is beyond the limitations of space and time, and is the loving father of us all. If I commit an injustice, no matter whether I do it on my own account, or in the name of God, God does not take sides!

नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभु: ।
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तव: ॥ १५ ॥

nādatte kasyacit pāpaṁ
na caiva sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ
ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ
tena muhyanti jantavaḥ

Nor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone’s sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/15/
God does not take sides

Finally, we must remember that as we are not the Centre of the Universe.

Everyone acts according to what they think is in their greatest self interest. A thief may think that a fat stolen wallet is in his own best interest. A child may think that not going to school is in her own best interest. A politician might think that pitting one group of people against another is in his own best interest.

But they would all be sadly mistaken… because the thief doesn’t know that the owner of the wallet suffers and he himself will suffer too, the child does not know that without education she will suffer in the future, and the politician does not know that he will have to reap the same hatred he sows.

The real problem is that everyone is seeing the whole world as theirs to enjoy, to do with as they please. They don’t understand that indeed, they are not the owner…

We are not the centre of the Universe

Our world has become an unspeakable nightmare.
Peace is destroyed replaced by brutal warfare.
All hell is breaking loose on this planet right now,
And for stopping it the leaders have no idea how.

But here is the peace formula. Please take it my friends.
Please take it. You’ll see. It will not fail.
Here is the peace formula. Please take it, my friends.
Please take it. Surely peace will prevail.

We come into this world possessing nothing.
And we leave from this world with absolutely nothing.
But in the middle we fight and kill claiming this is mine.
Ignoring the real owner who reclaims everything in time.

Yes, Here is the peace formula. Please take it my friends.
Please take it. You’ll see. It will not fail.
Here is the peace formula. Please take it, my friends.
Please take it. Surely peace will prevail.

Now listen here all of you world leaders.
If you want real peace, this you must now understand.
There’s a Supreme Proprietor to whom everything belongs.
What you think is yours is just now slipping through your hands.
Acknowledge that Supreme Owner, Enjoyer, and Friend.
Peace will come and this turmoil will completely end.

Yes, Here is the peace formula. Please take it my friends.
Please take it. You’ll see. It will not fail.
Here is the peace formula. Please take it, my friends.
Please take it. Surely peace will prevail.
Please take it. Worldwide peace will prevail.

His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Replace competition with Cooperation

Competition is encouraged in our world, in fact, it is ruthlessly cultivated through education, culture, and society… but is competition with ourselves as the centre based on envy of others, ultimately based on envy of God, worth the cost?

We cannot get rid of this scourge unless we co-operate with, instead of competing against each other. In fact, unless we co-operate with God, we cannot co-operate with others in the truest sense of the word.

But this co-operation is impossible unless we all have a single centre, the same goal.

We must have a common centre to direct our efforts

Unless we all agree and keep a single centre, our efforts will always compete and clash against each other.

What is the way to escape this eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth then?

The only way to escape this eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth world, is to re-enter the spiritual realm, where birth, death, old age, and disease are absent, and the effects of time are conspicuous by their absence. That world is one where everyone is trying to give more than they receive, where everyone is trying to serve one another in their service to the Supreme, who I know as Krishna. That is a world where every step is a dance, and every word, a song, every tree is desire fulfilling, where the earth is made of touchstone, and water is the elixir of immortality. That is a world where the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna plays His flute, where every entity is fully conscious and ecstatically in love with Him. That is a world in which infinite cows make oceans of nectarean milk, where even the wild beasts are saintly, where there is no lamentation or anxiety from the past or future. That world is where everyone lives in the eternal ever present. That world is known as Goloka, and cannot be reached by those who remain in bodily consciousness or without pure devotion to God. Chanting Hare Krishna is the surest and fastest way to get there.

How does the Hare Krishna Mahamantra work?

Dear Spirit Soul, I am going there, by the mercy of my spiritual master, please come with me.

भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।
सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥ २९ ॥

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/29/

Killer Earthquakes – why do they happen?

Why do earthquakes occur? Yes, the scientists explain about sesimic faults, tectonic shifts, and so on, but why an earthquake at a particular place at a particular time that affects only a particular set of people? Have we forgotten the most fundamental law of nature?

As I write this, there have been a series of earthquakes that have rocked Turkiye and Syria since Feb 6, 2023.

It is a major humanitarian disaster, with thousands of people who are dead, and thousands more expected to lose their lives.

Thousands of families are shattered, livelihoods disrupted, and so many communities are altered for ever.

I am shocked, saddened and feel extreme sorrow for the tremendous loss.

As the world rushes to provide humanitarian relief, in the form of search, rescue, food, clothing, medical assistance and more, some are asking why this happened.

It seems that almost no one is doing anything to stop things like this.

After all, Turkiye is no stranger to earthquakes. The region is well-known to be situated in an area with a high risk for earthquakes. The scientists have studied and identified what is known as the North Anatolian Fault Line, which identifies a known feature of the earth’s surface that makes this region more prone to earthquakes.

In the recent past, there have been major earthquakes in 1903, 1912, 1914, 1939, 1998, 2003, and 2020. In fact, there have been over 97 sets of earthquakes in Turkiye since AD 1900!

Of course, earthquakes have occurred in other parts of the world too, and millions of people have been killed over the course of history.

While one can look at it from an analytical perspective and say something like “why do people live in earthquake prone areas anyways” or “why don’t governments do more to prevent deaths”… the fundamental question to ask is “why do earthquakes occur?”.

While scientists will launch into a long-winded technical explanation, I’d argue they don’t know what they’re talking about. Yes seismic faults, yes, volcanoes, yes tectonic plate shifts, but why a specific place and why a specific time, and why not some other place and why not some other time?

Why do some people escape an earthquake and why do some others not escape?

Why is it that only a specific group of people are affected by earthquakes and not some other specific group of people?

Why is it that some people whose ancestors lived (or died) in earthquake prone areas for hundreds or thousands of years suddenly escape an earthquake? Why is it that people whose ancestors never experienced a single earthquake suddenly find themselves in the wave of destruction of one?

Modern material scientists have no clue, because they have overlooked an important law of nature.

It’s called the Law of Karma.

According to the Law of Karma, every soul experiences exactly what it is due to experience, and the law of karma is infallible… in other words, once someone is slated to experience something, that cannot be avoided or prevented in the ordinary course.

Krishna introduces this concept in the Bhagavad Gita…

एषा तेऽभिहिता सांख्ये बुद्धिर्योगे त्विमां श‍ृणु ।
बुद्ध्या युक्तो यया पार्थ कर्मबन्धं प्रहास्यसि ॥ ३९ ॥

eṣā te ’bhihitā sāṅkhye
buddhir yoge tv imāṁ śṛṇu
buddhyā yukto yayā pārtha
karma-bandhaṁ prahāsyasi

Thus far I have described this knowledge to you through analytical study. Now listen as I explain it in terms of working without fruitive results. O son of Pṛthā, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/39/

Krishna uses the words “karma bandham”, which is translated as “bondage of reaction to work”… in other words, whenever we do something in the material world, it causes a reaction.

Now, from a material perspective, this reaction can be a positive reaction, or a negative reaction, as in, either desirable outcome or undesirable outcome.

कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मणः ।
अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गतिः ॥ १७ ॥

karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ
boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ
gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ

The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/17/

In the material world, especially materialistic people teach us to act as we like, as long as we don’t get caught, or in the best case, as long as we don’t get into trouble with the local laws.

But the Laws of Karma are the Laws of God. You can’t escape them. It’s not a question of belief.

What if you don’t know the laws of karma? Just as in our world, ignorance of the law is no defense, similarly, while the reaction of an offense unknowingly committed might be less than the reaction of an offense knowingly committed, that is similar to the difference between manslaughter and first-degree murder… punishment may be less for one vs. the other, but punishment nevertheless.

So, one should take the trouble to understand that meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling are the pillars of forbidden action.

Until we get out of the cycle of forbidden action, we cannot get out of the reactions of it.

As you sow, so shall you reap… as we slaughter, so shall we be slaughtered.

Collective Karma

There is such a thing as collective karmic debt… in other words, the laws of nature gather a certain set of people, small or big, to experience the pleasures and pains related to karmic reactions… certain nations are hot, others are cold, some have a shortage of water, others are prone to certain diseases… some cities are safer than others, some villages are next to horrendous pollutors and suffer from all sorts of untimely diseases. Some families are prone to certain disorders…

It is all related to the infallible law of karma, souls collected together to suffer and enjoy.

So, while we should feel compassion for all those caught in the cycle of birth and death, we should strive hard to bring them out of that cycle of birth and death, by helping ourselves and others purify our consciousness completely clean of all material contamination.

ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam

“ ‘Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.’

https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/antya/20/12/

So therefore, earthquakes, floods, fires, these things are unavoidable. We cannot change that. Our main business should be to exit this temporary world that is full of suffering. This we can do only if we attain spiritual perfection.

aprārabdha-phalaṁ pāpaṁ
kūṭaṁ bījaṁ phalonmukham
krameṇaiva pralīyeta
viṣṇu-bhakti-ratātmanām

For those who are engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all sinful reactions, whether fructified, in the stock, or in the form of a seed, gradually vanish. Therefore the purifying potency of devotional service is very strong, and it is called pavitram uttamam, the purest. Uttama means transcendental. Tamas means this material world or darkness, and uttama means that which is transcendental to material activities. Devotional activities are never to be considered material, although sometimes it appears that devotees are engaged just like ordinary men. One who can see and is familiar with devotional service will know that they are not material activities. They are all spiritual and devotional, uncontaminated by the material modes of nature.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/2/ purport by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

It is possible to pull souls out of the karma chakra, of endless action that produces endless reaction.

But it needs everyone to act in a spiritual way, right now.

Why do earthquakes happen? Because we’ve accumulated a lot of bad karmic reactions, and it’s payback time. What goes around, comes around.

And the solution?

We should act for the ultimate spiritual benefit, before it is too late.

Please be a part of the ultimate solution – the only solution.

If you want to benefit yourself and all the living entities who have lived, are living, and have lived, Please chant…

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

The Hare Krishna Mahamantra, the great chant for deliverance

How George Harrison found complete satisfaction

Why can we not find satisfaction? A poor person, middle class person, and rich person all are dissatisfied. Even the richest person sometimes wants a carefree life of the poor… how to get satisfaction in life?

Nisarga, 30 June 2020

When a poor man sees a middle class person he wishes that if I atleast have a life like him I will be satisfied. Similarly that middle Class person will find his happiness in a rich person’s life and the rich person also won’t be that satisfied or happy in his life…he will sometimes wish that he had a life to live like that poor man without any worries .why does this happen and how do we break this loop and find satisfaction and happiness within oneself.

Nisarga

Mahabhagavat Das, 08 September 2020

Dear Nisarga,

Hare Krishna!

A spirit soul is purely spiritual. But when the spirit soul identifies with matter, then the soul seeks satisfaction in material sense gratification. But because the soul is spiritual, everything material does not satisfy.

Actually, the spirit soul is in search of Krishna, as said perfectly by George Harrison…

quote

Everybody is looking for KRISHNA. Some don’t realize that they are, but they are.

KRISHNA is GOD, the Source of all that exists, the Cause of all that is, was, or ever will be. As GOD is unlimited HE has many Names. Allah-Buddha-Jehova-Rama: All are KRISHNA, all are ONE.

God is not abstract; He has both the impersonal and the personal aspects to His personality which is SUPREME, ETERNAL, BLISSFUL, and full of KNOWLEDGE. As a single drop of water has the same qualities as an ocean of water, so has our consciousness the qualities of GOD’S consciousness… but through our identification and attachment with material energy (physical body, sense pleasures, material possessions, ego, etc.) our true TRANSCENDENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS has been polluted, and like a dirty mirror it is unable to reflect a pure image. With many lives our association with the TEMPORARY has grown. This impermanent body, a bag of bones and flesh, is mistaken for our true self, and we have accepted this temporary condition to be final.

Through all ages, great SAINTS have remained as living proof that this non-temporary, permanent state of GOD CONSCIOUSNESS can be revived in all living Souls. Each soul is potentially divine. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita: “Steady in the Self, being freed from all material contamination, the yogi achieves the highest perfectional stage of happiness in touch with the Supreme Consciousness.” (VI,28)

YOGA (a scientific method for GOD (SELF) realization) is the process by which we purify our consciousness, stop further pollution, and arrive at the state of Perfection, full KNOWLEDGE, full BLISS.

If there’s a God, I want to see Him. It’s pointless to believe in something without proof, and Krishna Consciousness and meditation are methods where you can actually obtain GOD perception. You can actually see God, and Hear Him, play with Him. It might sound crazy, but He is actually there, actually with you.

There are many yogic Paths–Raja, Jnana, Hatha, Kriya, Karma, Bhakti–which are all acclaimed by the MASTERS of each method. SWAMI BHAKTIVEDANTA is as his title says, a BHAKTI Yogi following the path of DEVOTION. By serving GOD through each thought, word, and DEED, and by chanting HIS Holy Names, the devotee quickly develops God-consciousness. By chanting:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna – Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama – Rama Rama, Hare Hare

one inevitably arrives at KRISHNA Consciousness. (The proof of the pudding is in the eating!)

I request that you take advantage of this book KRISHNA, and enter into its understanding. I also request that you make an appointment to meet your God now, through the self liberating process of YOGA (UNION) and GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE (KRISHNA) HARI BOL.

GEORGE HARRISON 31/3/70

unquote

The only satisfaction is in pure Krishna Consciousness.

Does this help?

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

dasadas.com

Nikhil Mishra, 08 September 2020

Jai..Hari Bol. Thanks for quoting George Harrison.

I guess Swami Prabhupada must be very pleased with the services of

George Harrison. I have heard that in his last days, Prabhupada asked

caretaking devotees to give his ring to Mr. (Bhakta) George Harrison.

Sincerely

Nikhil

Reason and Love : “Reason helps Love to maintain its proper bounds in the Spiritual world. Love often tends to degrade itself by exercising its function on objects other than God and converts itself into lust for women, wine, meat and gold. Here Reason advises her to rise higher till she reaches her proper sphere above.”

– Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Mahabhagavat Das, 09 September 2020

Yes, George Harrison is a great Vaishnava. He has done tremendous services in the Krishna Consciousness movement when it was needed the most. He chanted Hare Krishna right till the end of his body. Srila Prabhupada surely has arranged for his onward journey. Now it is time for us to strive hard, get out of complacency and be truly Krishna conscious, and give this one life to Krishna. What are we waiting for? 

Mahabhagavat Das, dasadas.com

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Moving homes – painful business

Have you ever moved? Moved a home? Moved a job? Moved to another city? Moved to another country? Moving is painful, is it not? What about the ultimate move we will be forced to make at the end of our lives? That moment when our soul is ripped from all its current attachments? How to deal with that?

Have you ever moved from one home to another? Moving is a pain. It can be exciting, but usually it is a big hassle, and takes a lot of effort. The bigger the move, the more the pain.

So what about THE BIG MOVE?

You may or may not have moved, or maybe your moves were smooth and painless, but there is one move that is so big and so painful that almost everyone is afraid of it.

That’s right, the biggest ever move of our lives. It is called death. Death. DEATH.

Some call death the grim reaper, and for good reason! Every single attachment we have, to our body, our family, our friends, our home, our profession, our city, country, culture, all of that is ripped out in a moment.

Just as moves are painful, but transient, and usually forgotten once we are in our new home, death is not to be feared.

Why is that?

The jaws of a cat are death for a mouse, but to a kitten, the jaws of his mother is just “hey, my Mom is taking me for an adventure”.

Depending on how we have lived our life, death can be a relief, a cause for great anxiety, or of no consequence whatsoever.

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय
नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि ।
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा-
न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥ २२ ॥

vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛhṇāti naro ’parāṇi
tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny
anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī

As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/22/

Once upon a time there was a saintly person and his disciple.

They went around meeting different people during their travels…

One day, the saintly person met 3 souls.

One was a person of really poor character… he was very wealthy, charismatic, powerful and influential, but lied, cheated, plundered, and murdered for profit and convenience. But as the saintly person had nothing of value that the crook could possibly want, and was such a pleasant personality to be around, the wicked crooked person did not harm the saintly person. To this man, the saintly person gave the blessing “may you live long” and the person was naturally very happy to receive this blessing.

Another person was extremely good in character, always willing to extend a helping hand, kind, and generous too, but he was suffering like you cannot imagine… he had health issues, was very poor, and barely had enough to eat, no proper clothes to wear, and a dwelling that wasn’t even fit for an animal to live in. To this person the saintly person gave the blessing “may you die shortly”.

The third person that the saintly person and his disciple met was a pure Lover of God, and spent every waking moment in the service of God. His every breath resonated the Names of God, and his every action was done in loving communion with God, for the sake of God’s pleasure. He loved every creature, served them as children of God, and was in general very happy and jolly. This person was neither too rich nor too poor, neither too famous, nor unknown. He was neither too beautiful, nor was he very powerful. He was plain and simple, and you couldn’t spot him in a crowd for the most part, but he was just completely satisfied and content, happy to serve God in every possible way. The saintly person blessed him with “live as you are, or die as you are, be as you are”.

Now at the end of the day, when the disciple was serving his spiritual master and asked about the different blessings given during the day, the blessing of a long life to the wicked, the blessing of death to the miserable, and an indifferent blessing to the pure devotee of God. The disciple was somewhat shocked and perplexed at his spiritual master’s different blessings, some of which were seemingly unfair.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari, the author’s spiritual master, enthralls his disciples with transcendental knowledge

The spiritual master, the saintly person, explained…

The person acting wickedly today is reaping the result of his past good activities from the past – good karma. When he dies, then he will reap the results of his present sinful activities – bad karma. So to the wicked man, death would be quite the terrible thing because then the karmic reactions would come home to roost. Instead, if he lives longer and changes his ways, he may have a chance to redeem himself.

Life in the material world is just like a Ferris Wheel

The person in a miserable situation today is reaping the result of his past bad activities, bad karma. When he dies, then he will reap the results of his present kindness – good karma. So to the gentleman, death would be a welcome respite from his suffering and would give him pleasure, and hopefully continue his kind ways.

And to the pure devotee of God, whether he lives or dies makes no difference to the soul – all the reactions to his past karmic actions, whether good karma or bad karma are burned off… he is ecstatic now and he will be forever ecstatic in the service of God, whether here in the material world, or back in the spiritual realm, the person will be eternally happy and satisfied, so he has no need of any blessing for me.

किं कर्म किमकर्मेति कवयोऽप्यत्र मोहिताः ।
तत्ते कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽश‍ुभात् ॥ १६ ॥

kiṁ karma kim akarmeti
kavayo ’py atra mohitāḥ
tat te karma pravakṣyāmi
yaj jñātvā mokṣyase ’śubhāt

Even the intelligent are bewildered in determining what is action and what is inaction. Now I shall explain to you what action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from all misfortune.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/16/

Death is a mere transition, a mere move from one home to another one.

If you have been good or bad in the material sense, you surely will have fear, anxiety or lamentation over death. But if you are in the transcendental stage, then death is, in the words of my spiritual master “closing your eyes in sleep and waking up with Krishna, in Krishna’s pastimes”.

Krishna’s devotees live and play with Krishna eternally

While moving homes may be painful for someone who has a lot of baggage, moving is not painful to the person who has no baggage!

How to get free of baggage?

aprārabdha-phalaṁ pāpaṁ
kūṭaṁ bījaṁ phalonmukham
krameṇaiva pralīyeta
viṣṇu-bhakti-ratātmanām

For those who are engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all sinful reactions, whether fructified, in the stock, or in the form of a seed, gradually vanish.

Padma Purana – quoted in https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/2/

So you can take your pick… you can remain on the level of karmic actions and reactions, or you can make your activities completely transcendental to all material reactions, and burn off any remaining reactions.

You cannot choose whether to surrender or not – you are already surrendered, either to the material energy or to the spiritual energy. You are controlled at every moment, in every respect (but more about that another day). You can choose to act transcendental to the material energy.

How to make your actions transcendental? Glad you asked! Join this course!

Are there millions of souls living in my body?

How many souls live in a body? For example, there are millions of sperm in an average healthy man’s body, do they all contain souls? If there are millions of souls but only one or two get a chance then what happens to all the others?

Partha Das, 18 March 2020

Hare Krsna,

I understand that each sperm has a soul. Our body has millions of sperms. Does it mean there are millions of souls living in my body along with my soul at any time.

Sounds scary.

Dandavats

Partha Das

Rcard, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna!!!

I’ve been wondering the same query but multiplied even more.

I’ve included all the cells of our bodies including micro-organisms and so on. 

Which one is your soul? Is it the one dwelling in your heart?.

Do all these cells, sperms and micro-organisms transmigrate with your soul when change body?.

Rcard

Priya Sundari devi dasi, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna Prabhus. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I hope this finds you well. 

HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami has a seminar called ‘Dust to Dust’ – this is recorded and is available on Iskcondesiretree for devotees to listen to. 

In that Maharaja says that the soul goes into the body of the male first through grains (and again someone asks the question in the seminar that does that mean we avoid eating grains), before which it goes through the rain, into the ground and then into grains.  

Maharaja also explains very nicely that when the time is right then we attract a soul who comes into the male’s body through consumption of grains and then is transferred to the womb of the mother. It also answers other questions about the souls journey before birth and after death, hence the name Dust to dust. 

The seminar is quite extraordinary and I would highly recommend listening to it. 

I also read somewhere that the soul stays in the father’s body for 3 months and the mother’s body for 270 days (pregnancy). <– Apologies I cannot find a quote / reference for this. 

your servant 

Priya Sundari devi dasi. 

*Kṛṣṇe matir astu*

Bhakta Sanjay, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna,

Dandavat Pranam to all vaishnavas.

Soul is spiritual sparks from supreme soul i.e. Lord Krishna. Body is material which consists of 5 elements. Based on Karmic reactions from million births, soul transmigrate to the already built-in heart in the womb of a mother i.e. who will be father and mother is already pre-detinied based on KARMA. This is my personal understanding after going through the scriptures. Based on this understanding, each chromosome will not have spiritual sparks (soul) but material energy from the Lord with potency to fertilize an egg.

Haribol,

Jay Gurudev, 

Sanjay

Arnoldas Zdanevicius, 19 March 2020

Hare Krsna.

Dandavat pranam to all!

All glories to Srila Prabhupad and His faithful followers.

I wonder why we discuss things which we will never know completely? All the answers about the soul are hidden from us. Soul is not material. That’s it. 

Don’t waste your time trying to understand the soul. 

or better ask your Guru about it. Do not speculate about it.

better chant Hare Krsna – this is for me.

Please help me how to find taste in chanting again. I am loosing.

Perhaps I am done with Krsna consciousness for some time.

your eternal servant, anyway.

Arnoldas 🙂

Rasika Krishna Das, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna!

I once asked Srila Gurudev almost same question, he answered that there are many souls within our body like microbes & germs in air that we breathe, worms in our digestive tract and many more but you (the owner of this body) are the king of all souls, the king of this city of nine gates.

Regarding sperms, only potent sperms have souls. That’s the reason why many healthy aspiring mothers are never able to conceive because the aspiring fathers don’t have any potent sperms because of their karma. From purport of SB 11.5.41:

“Often the sexual act fails to produce pregnancy at all. So although all parents desire a beautiful, highly qualified child, this is often not the case. Thus it can be understood that ultimately it is by the mercy of the Supreme Lord that a man and woman are able to produce a child by the sexual act. It is by the Lord’s mercy that the man’s seminal injection is potent and the woman’s ovum is fertile. Similarly, it is only by the mercy of the Lord that the child is born in a healthy condition and reaches physical maturity to pursue his own life. If at any stage in the evolution of a human being the Lord’s mercy is withdrawn, sudden death or crippling disease occurs.”

your servant,

Rasika Krishna Das

Tapas Chakraborty, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna 

Dandavat Pranam to all Krishna devotees

I too agree with your views. The subject of discussion which doesn’t lead us to absolute knowledge of truth and love for the supreme is simply a waste of time and energy. All our endeavor to be directed towards self realization through increasing our consciousness on the absolute. Lord in his manifestation in this material earth has enacted many a plays which carry a dual objective of his divine play as well teaching mankind his real purpose on this material earth. We need to dwell on this subject for a deeper understanding of its morals and following the same . 

For your losing taste in chanting, I request the elevated souls of this group to enlighten on how to persevere with the endless love towards Supreme. 

Hare Krishna 

your ever endearing servant 

Tapas 

Partha Das, 20 March 2020

Thanks for the explanation. 

Partha Das

Partha Das, 20 March 2020

Hare Krsna, Dandavats,

We are all devotees of Krsna.Also we are sincere students of the great Vedic literature.

As students we get many doubts as we study. These have to be answered before we move on further. Hence the queries.

your servant

Partha Das

Tapas Chakraborty, 21 March 2020

Hare Krishna 

Dear Partha

You are on the right path as well with divine association of illumined souls to guide you in the path of Krishna consciousness. It is true , in the beginning our inquisitive mind plays an active role in trying to know all at a go . But as we go along through perseverance in search of absolute knowledge keeping aside temporary distractions, all answers unfold before you slowly. 

yours all endearing servant 

Tapas

Mahabhagavat Das, 25 March 2020

Hare Krishna Everyone!

Thank you for a lively discussion on this important subject matter. Actually it is important to know that semen contains millions of jivas, not all jivas have the good fortune of getting a womb and a body… leave alone a human body! We all have got that good fortune, and the chance at a human life. So when someone says “human life is rare” they are not joking!

This means we need to take responsibility – this is the reason why illicit sex is a sinful activity, because we are denying any of those souls a chance to lead a human life.

Also, to the followup question whether other cells in the body are souls also, the answer is given in the Bhagavad Gita…

“

यथा प्रकाशयत्येक: कृत्स्‍नं लोकमिमं रवि: ।

क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्‍नं प्रकाशयति भारत ॥ ३४ ॥

yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ

kṛtsnaṁ lokam imaṁ raviḥ

kṣetraṁ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṁ

prakāśayati bhārata

O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.” https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/34/ (please read the purport, very very wonderful!)

We can realize that if we cut off the hand, or drain some blood from the body, or be badly burned, or have brain damage or a faulty heart, as long as the soul doesn’t leave the body, the body stays alive. When the soul leaves, then even if the body had perfectly good cells at the time of death, it is a dead body. No one can clearly explain medically or analytically exactly why one body in the same circumstances lives and another one in the same circumstances dies – the only possible explanation is “the soul stayed or left depending on his karma and the decision of higher authorities”.

I am Mahabhagavat Das, eternal servant of Sankarshan Das Adhikari, grand-disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, now writing this email, that tiny particle living within my body which is known in this world by various temporary material designations. My absence from this body will make my body a dead body. As long as I am here, this body will be at least somewhat valuable. Once I am gone, useless.

Srila Gurudeva’s answer also makes it clear by extension, that other living entities live in/on our body too, they are all individual souls as they don’t necessarily die when we leave the body, but in fact can even thrive and flourish – which is why the body begins to decay.

This is a moderated group. All questions are welcome. Anything that is not according to group guidelines or not helpful to broadcast will not be posted or will be answered privately. If you are asking or answering a question, please be kind, respectful, and encouraging.

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Editor’s note: Also the verses BG 3.14, and 3.15 discuss this subject matter. Also this article answers this question also: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2012/01/do-all-sperms-have-soul/

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.ecstaticmedia.com ), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

What does it mean to ignore your mind?

What does it mean to “ignore the mind”? Is this even possible? Why would I do that? And how can it be done?

Vishal, 23 February 2020

Hare Krishna,

Dandavats to everyone.

I have heard statements a lot of time, ignore your mind. Can we really ignore our mind and overcome issues like sadness, depression, laziness, confusion etc. Is it so easy to ignore ?

Please help me to understand what it means by ignoring the mind.

Hare Krishna 

Vishal

Nuria.k, 23 February 2020

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

In my humble understanding it means ignoring what is not good for Krsna consciousness because sometimes the mind is lamenting or putting obstacles like on the spiritual path. In that case it is better to strengthen our sadhana and move our attention to Maha mantra and spiritual master.

Nuria.k

Tapas Chakraborty, 24 February 2020

Hare Krishna 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada 

High regards for putting forward such an important subject around which revolves our resolves in our tune to consciousness. I hope a lot of debate and inputs from our learned disciples to shed enough of illuminations for others’ enlightenment.

As a novice in the subject, I am just attempting to put forth my understanding.

Mind is the most critical part of human intelligence, the control or discipline of which is the core to values in understanding of the truth or opening our intelligence to higher knowledge. Ignoring the mind is not a lasting solution to our spiritual journey for everlasting peace and ecstasy rather training it to be focused on our objectives of desires for higher realization in pursuit of excellence.

But the question remains how? In Bhagavad Gita this Subject has been dwelt in great details with 4 paths, viz Bhakti Jyana Raj and Karma yogas each of which deals with different aspects of training our mind. At ISKCON we are in the path of Bhakti Yoga in achieving the twin objectives of Krishna consciousness as well as controlled focus of mind as well as our senses. 

I wish to hear in detail from the disciples in this group whom I look upon as highly realized souls.

Hare Krishna 

From an endearing servant 

Tapas

Sacinandana Das, 25 February 2020

Hare Krishna.

Please accept my humble obeisances. 

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji. 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada. 

We should ignore the mind if it stops us to perform Krishna Service by intelligence as intelligence is higher than mind. 

Jivera swarupa hoye nitya Krishna Das. 

The constitutional position of the living entity is to serve Krishna. 

For example if we want to get up early and chant the holy names of the Lord but the mind may stay asleep for some more time but we should not listen to it. We should ignore it and wake and chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. 

Mind may give us hundreds of reasons not to chant. It may say oh you are so tired, please take a little more rest but Srila Gurudev says we should chastise the mind. We should tell the mind to get up. Our mind has kept us so long in the material world. We should stop listening to our mind and control it by intelligence. We should be heavy with our mind. Our mind is a rascal.

Mind is like a little child. We must have seen a small child troubling his or her mother but when the child does not listen to her mother, the mother sometimes becomes angry and chastises her child and the child immediately comes under control. 

Our mind is like that small child and intelligence is like a mother. Above the intelligence is the soul whose Constitutional position is to serve Krishna as we are not this body. 

Bhagavad Gita says that the mind can be our best friend or enemy. So how to make our mind our best friend by performing devotional service to our beloved Lord Sri Krishna. In case one does some crime and has to go to jail, will our best friend go to jail with us? No. But Lord Krishna is so kind that as a Paramatma He never leaves us. He follows us from one to another for 84 lakhs yonis waiting for us when this living entity will turn face towards me. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita that He is the best friend of all living entities. He is like a loving father and we are like a rich man’s son who has left our father. If some body recognises us and tells oh you are the son of Mr. Such and such. That someone is the Spiritual Master. That is why the Spiritual Master is so dear to Krishna. 

So let us stop listening to our mind and make the whole world Krishna conscious. I hope it helps. Hare Krishna.

your servant, 

Sacinandana das. 

Shridhar Das, 25 February 2020,

Hare Krishna,

Dear Vishal,

Please accept my humble obeisance.

All Glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumata!

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Ignoring is one of the mind techniques to deal with the mind.

Srila Gurudeva tells in one lecture that ignoring someone is a very heavy way of chastising. Srila Prabhupada did so with his disciples on a few occasions. Any spiritual master does to train the disciple. On the other hand, a parent has to also apply the technique of neglect with their children who is restless by nature. Children speak many things which they do not mean/intend to. It’s just a monkey stunt. If one was to pay heed to each such action from the energetic child, one will have no time for personal life unless really expert.

In the same way, we are already having custody of our child “mind”. Of course it’s a nasty demon in most cases than a child. Therefore, there are many ways to deal with these different behaviors of the mind. The standard principle is:

1) To engage the mind in the lotus feet of the Lord. Since the mind controls the reigns of all 5 senses, the 5 senses also become engaged.

a. Since we are not there,

2) We engage the 5 senses to ensure the mind, whose focus lie on the senses also becomes busy in their engagements

a. This is why we should keep ourselves busy in services

b. That service gives a meaning to our existence and the mind becomes occupied in planning and executing it. Where then is the question for the mind to think otherwise? Besides, if it is service to Krishna, mind purifies. Otherwise, there are millions who are foaming, working hard 16 hours a day for earning some money and experience a drop of sense gratification, but are more entangled with the desires of mind and senses. And are still dissatisfied.

3) Besides engaging, we also restrain our mind and senses from their sense objects.

a. Just as a drunkard who trying to get rid of addiction to alcohol tries to maintain distance from such drinks and his booze circle, we have to distance our mind and senses from their material addictions

b. At the same time apply first 2 principles of engaging somewhere. We are not dry speculators or renunciants who are after giving up the world but we are to connect everything with Krishna through devotional service.

The above 2 are standard principles as per Bhagavad Gita (Engaging & Refraining). 

In our initial stages where we are cultivating the habit of above 2, mind will still sometimes take time out in midst of our engagements to ponder upon negative thoughts. Then we deal mind with the following weapons: (SS RBNJ – Sri Sri Radha Brindavan Nath Jee)

1) Daily Reading of Scriptures: By knowledge, intelligence sharpens and the sword of knowledge comes handy to  cut the illusions of mind.

2) Regular Hearing from Sadhus who are determined and taking their association from time to time!

3) Rosy Words: We console it with a Rosy Words: “My dear mind, let us engage yourself in the service of Guru & Vaishnavas. That will make us happy…” and so on.

4) Beat the Mind: If we get too mellow with the mind, chances are it will switch to the role of master from a friend. Then, we have to beat Hundred times with a broomstick “You rascal! Hypocrite! Cheater! Stop this Nonsense!…” and so on, whenever it blabbers something negative. Please note, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura prescribes, 100 in morning and 100 in night J. If we do daily, mind will be trained.

5) Simple Neglect: Still when we are busy, it will mutter and then we may Simply Neglect/Ignore it knowing it doesn’t carry any weight to whatever it blabbers. Srila Prabhupada often instructs this.

6) Japa: with full struggle to hear the Holy Names of Krishna is the most powerful technique, knowing the power of Holy Names.

So you were speaking of Neglect. Now you have so many instruments. Choose whichever handy and aim at the mind to curb its negativity and then engage in devotional service!

Also note, if you cannot remember these, I have made an Acronym SS RBNJ – Sri Sri Radha Brindavan Nath Jee, Deities of New Vrindavan, West Virginia.

your servant

Shridhar das

Selena Saar, 25 February 2020

Hare Krsna Matajis/Prabhus

Please accept my humble obeisances

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

In the book written by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada ;

● The path of perfection, Chapter 2 page 13; Mastering the mind and senses.

Your answer must be found precisely here. 

The Path of Perfection

Radhe Radhe, 

your servant,

Selena Saar

Selena Saar, 25 February 2020

Hare Krsna Mataji/Prabhu

Please accept my humble obeisances

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

A very good question.

Srila Prabhupada mentioned, to “hit your mind before sleep 100 times with a Chappal (sandal) and in the morning with a danda (stick)”. 

You should not ignore but try to correct your mind. 

Asking help from the Guru and SriKrsna is always recommended. Chant your rounds and read the Holy books given by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, listen to lectures. Follow Ekadashi as sincerely as possible. Do Seva. Have love for Godhead and be patient with the process. Have faith in the power of His name. Answers will come from within and without. We have to sharpen our radio-antenna of the mind to the right frequency, and remove the dust from our hearts by these processes.

If you sincerely surrender unto the Lotus Feet, there is no need to for extra worry. 

We first need to understand this concept of fully surrendering. 

Krsna states that those who have surrendered unto His lotus feet. Lamentation is not suitable and befitting.

*Kirtaniya Sada hari*

Radhe Radhe,

your servant

Selena Saar

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.ecstaticmedia.com ), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

Human Animal Farm

George Orwell’s Animal Farm describes a horrifying story of how “equals” exploit other equals… There are so many different social systems being tried out, communism, capitalism, socialism, and so on, but practically all of them are animalistic. Is there an ideal social system?

There is a famous book by George Orwell, Animal Farm. It is a satire on communism.

In the book, the oppressed animals on a farm overthrow their human farmer and try to create a society based on egalitarian principles, but they end up in a situation much worse than before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.

But have you considered any other competing “ism”, such as, say “Capitalism”?

Capitalism, where money rules the roost

Is any materialistic ideology different from any other materialistic ideology when implemented in human society?

Is the end result any different?

Let’s take the case of any “democratic” country… take for example Canada, where I live presently… Canada is high up on the list when it comes to social liberty and freedom, with its famous Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and so on… but even in Canada, let’s take, say, the Prime Minister of Canada – does anyone feel that such a person is “equal” to the rest of us living in Canada? OK, let’s leave the top powerful people aside… let’s take an ordinary police officer… there was recently a case in which a Toronto Police Officer accessed a database, gave his son the name and address of an individual who drove a car with a certain license plate, and the individual ended up dead because of that.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

And if you want to exclude that type of power from the equation, let’s take the case of the Native Canadians! The original first nations people of Canada – where are they? I have mostly seen them destitute and begging on the streets. How on earth did Canadian society engineer that injustice?

Canadian Beggar

There are extreme examples, for example communism is supposed to be a classless society in which everyone is equal, has access to common prosperity, and equal opportunity for the best possible life. What is the reality though? The children of communist leaders study in the top schools, go to the top universities, and the children of the rural citizens? They are not even allowed to get off the farm, because then, who will feed the cities cheap food? This is institutionalized with many systems, such as the Hukou system. We see leaders trying to hold on to power until their dying breath, Stalin, Lenin, and Mao are all examples of that. There are any number of present leaders who want to entrench themselves for the duration of their lives!

Communism is based on materialistic ideals

But lest you think that some other competing system like democratic capitalism is better, just look around us – some people have no access to clean drinking water, food, and opportunity in life, just by the compounded effect of generations of exploitation. Some people have what is known as “inter-generational wealth”, and others struggle to pay their rent, living in buildings owned by REITs funded by, guess who, those with inherited wealth! Of course, who ends up born in better or worse material circumstances depends on the past karma of every individual.

Homeless person in Toronto, Canada

Ultimately no materialistic or man-made system can be perfect. The only perfect system is the one that is created by the Creator of all Natural Systems, variously referred to as Allah, Jehovah, or Krishna but referring to the same one Person.

Krishna, the Perfect Creator of the Perfect Society

It is called “Varnashrama”, which is a combination of 2 words “Varna” and “Ashrama”… Varna means occupation, Ashrama means “Life Status”…

The system is organized as follows – there are 4 main Varnas, and 4 main Ashramas, which gives rise to a combination of 16 different categories of people, which are a natural order of society.

The 4 Varnas are:

  • “Brahmana” – the intellectual class
  • “Kshatriya” – the administrator class
  • “Vaishya” – the mercantile class
  • “Shudra” – the worker class

The 4 Ashramas are:

  • “Brahmacharya” – the student class
  • “Grhastha – the householder class
  • “Vanaprastha” – the retired class
  • “Sannyasa” – the renounced class

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita:

चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः ।
तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् ॥ १३ ॥

cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ
guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ
viddhy akartāram avyayam

According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the nondoer, being unchangeable.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/13/

Ah, there you go, you might say, here comes the infamous Indian caste system, which has resulted in so much suffering, so much inequity, so much bias, and so much violence and exploitation.

The present-day Indian caste system is demonic

Two words are key here, one is “guna” and the other is “karma”.

The present Indian caste system is based on birth, which is called “janma”… basing the caste system on birth is like saying that all doctors’ children will be ever forevermore doctors, or that all of the judges’ children will be anointed judges. Yes, if you are born in a technical or a medical or a business family, it is very likely you will take up the same line because the whole atmosphere is steeped with that particular mood, but you still have to go to medical school or law school or learn to operate a business!

A doctor must be properly qualified

So therefore, the caste system based on birth alone is rejected… instead, every person is analyzed according to their qualities and the work they do.

If for example, someone is born in a family of doctors cannot clear high school or medical school, they will not get the degree and will not be allowed to practice. So why then is someone born in the family of a Brahmana but has the mindset of a worker still demand the social position of a Brahmana?

A judge must be duly qualified

This degraded practice alone has completely destroyed the original social system in India, and is responsible for the destruction of the high class Vedic culture. After all, just like in the famous book by George Orwell, if you make a pig the leader of society, the position will not alter the fact that the pig is, at the root of it, still a pig!

A pig in a suit is still a pig!

The 4 orders are compared to the various parts of the body – the Brahmanas to the head, the Kshatriyas to the hands, the Vaishyas to the stomach, and the Shudras to the legs. This is not derogatory, the head alone cannot get much done, and neither can the hands, stomach, or legs on their own.

The different sections of society must work together, just like the parts of our bodies

Imagine the legs running around without a head, or the hands flailing about in one place, or the stomach starving for the want of food! Our society is presently just like that.

So, in modern day society, we see that the humans are actually divided into 4 categories, represented by animals.

श्वविड्‍वराहोष्ट्रखरै: संस्तुत: पुरुष: पशु: ।
न यत्कर्णपथोपेतो जातु नाम गदाग्रज: ॥ १९ ॥

śva-viḍ-varāhoṣṭra-kharaiḥ
saṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥ
na yat-karṇa-pathopeto
jātu nāma gadāgrajaḥ

Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer from evils.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/19/

Why dogs, hogs, camels, and asses? Do we have some kind of hatred for these animals? No, we respect every living entity, but we lament the lost opportunity when a living entity who has achieved a human form of life descends to lower species in life…

Dogs will be dogs

Why and how are humans like dogs?

Modern university education practically prepares one to acquire a doggish mentality with which to accept the service of a greater master. After finishing a so-called education, the so-called educated persons move like dogs from door to door with applications for some service, and mostly they are driven away, informed of no vacancy. As dogs are negligible animals and serve the master faithfully for bits of bread, a man serves a master faithfully without sufficient rewards.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/19/
A pig will eat anything, practically

Why hogs?

Persons who have no discrimination in the matter of foodstuff and who eat all sorts of rubbish are compared to hogs. Hogs are very much attached to eating stools. So stool is a kind of foodstuff for a particular type of animal. And even stones are eatables for a particular type of animal or bird. But the human being is not meant for eating everything and anything; he is meant to eat grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, sugar, etc. Animal food is not meant for the human being. For chewing solid food, the human being has a particular type of teeth meant for cutting fruits and vegetables. The human being is endowed with two canine teeth as a concession for persons who will eat animal food at any cost. It is known to everyone that one man’s food is another man’s poison. Human beings are expected to accept the remnants of food offered to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the Lord accepts foodstuff from the categories of leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. (Bg. 9.26). As prescribed by Vedic scriptures, no animal food is offered to the Lord. Therefore, a human being is meant to eat a particular type of food. He should not imitate the animals to derive so-called vitamin values. Therefore, a person who has no discrimination in regard to eating is compared to a hog.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/19/
A camel eats thorns, and thinks they are tasty whereas it tastes its own blood as the thorns cut the insides of its mouth

Why camels?

The camel is a kind of animal that takes pleasure in eating thorns. A person who wants to enjoy family life or the worldly life of so-called enjoyment is compared to the camel. Materialistic life is full of thorns, and so one should live only by the prescribed method of Vedic regulations just to make the best use of a bad bargain. Life in the material world is maintained by sucking one’s own blood. The central point of attraction for material enjoyment is sex life. To enjoy sex life is to suck one’s own blood, and there is not much more to be explained in this connection. The camel also sucks its own blood while chewing thorny twigs. The thorns the camel eats cut the tongue of the camel, and so blood begins to flow within the camel’s mouth. The thorns, mixed with fresh blood, create a taste for the foolish camel, and so he enjoys the thorn-eating business with false pleasure. Similarly, the great business magnates, industrialists who work very hard to earn money by different ways and questionable means, eat the thorny results of their actions mixed with their own blood. Therefore the Bhāgavatam has situated these diseased fellows along with the camels.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/19/
An ass carrying a heavy load, all for a little grass

And why asses?

The ass is an animal who is celebrated as the greatest fool, even amongst the animals. The ass works very hard and carries burdens of the maximum weight without making profit for itself.* The ass is generally engaged by the washerman, whose social position is not very respectable. And the special qualification of the ass is that it is very much accustomed to being kicked by the opposite sex. When the ass begs for sexual intercourse, he is kicked by the fair sex, yet he still follows the female for such sexual pleasure. A henpecked man is compared, therefore, to the ass. The general mass of people work very hard, especially in the Age of Kali. In this age the human being is actually engaged in the work of an ass, carrying heavy burdens and driving ṭhelā and rickshaws. The so-called advancement of human civilization has engaged a human being in the work of an ass. The laborers in great factories and workshops are also engaged in such burdensome work, and after working hard during the day, the poor laborer has to be again kicked by the fair sex, not only for sex enjoyment but also for so many household affairs.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in purport to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/19/

What happens when humans who are just like hogs, dogs, camels, and asses go to the election? The dogs vote for a big dog, the hogs vote for a big hog, the camels vote for a big camel, and the asses vote for a big ass.

We end up with a civilization of dogs, hogs, camels, and asses!

And we get a leadership that is full of such dogs, hogs, camels, and asses!

And what will such leaders do in society? They will promote animalism, they might spout big ideals just like the hogs in George Orwell’s book do, but quietly or openly promote animalistic civilization.

Srila Prabhupada once called democracy as “demon crazy”! In other words, the democratic process does not get us the best leaders, only the lowest common denominator.

An ideal society without God in the Centre is not possible

Take your pick, the system created by God or the system created by animals masquerading as humans.

Krishna, the Creator of the Perfect Social Order

What is your choice?

What is the relationship between the Mind and Intelligence?

What is the difference between mind and intelligence? What is the relationship? Does the mind live in the brain?

Rathin 9 January 2018
Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumataji,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Studying the conversation in Janis Mataji’s question “Questions About Memories of Past Lives and Evolution” is very enlightening.
In response there is an explanation for Subtle body and Gross body.
I had been explaining all this time to others, that intelligence-mind is like software-hardware; one cannot go without another. But somewhere I was relating mind to the brain. But from the answer, it is clear that my assumption is wrong. Brain a part of the gross body.

How do I understand mind and intelligence?
Please help me understand this.

your servant
Rathin

Filip Misic, 9 January 2018
Hare Krishna Rathin,

There is an example that helps one segregate the mind and intelligence and I think that most people can relate to this. Let’s say you hear a catchy song with a funny melody on eg. the radio. The song then gets stuck in your mind and later you start singing or crooning the song out loud. However when this happens to people, they usually say something like: “I can’t stop singing this song…it’s stuck in my head…I want to get this song out of my head!” Now, that is the intelligence speaking. So shortly said the intelligence notices what the mind is doing and decides whether it is a positive or negative thing.
Similarly, we should restrain ourselves, i.e the mind, from thinking of sense objects with the help of intelligence. In this way, we avoid developing attachments towards objects of sense gratification, which only bring delusion and misery. The only thing is people rarely realize there are different levels that affect how you act. I hope this helps you.

your servant, Filip

Sacinandana Das, 9 January 2018

Hare Krishna Bhakta Rathin,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
As per my understanding mind and intelligence reside in the heart of the living entity.

your servant,
Sacinandana Das.

Guru Vandana devi dasi, 9 January 2018
Hare Krishna Bhakta Rathin,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Gurudeva explains that the mind is a psychic on/off switch. It is that which accepts or rejects things. Without proper intelligence one will accept what is bad and reject what is good. With proper intelligence from guru and Krishna one will accept what is good, namely the devotional service of the Lord, and reject material sense gratification.

your servant
Guru Vandana devi dasi

Rathin Mandal, 11 January 2018
Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumataji,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you Filip Prabhuji, Sacinandan Prabhuji and Guruvandana Mataji for your kind responses and helping me understand this.

your servant
Rathin

Thunduparambil Jayaprasad, 16 January 2018

Mind cannot work on its own , it gets power only when it is attached to senses . when 5 senses are filtered through intelligence (intelligence or wisdom varies from person to person) . depend on his wisdom acquired mind acts. In other words a man having no intelligence is directly controlled by senses which leads to catastrophe.

Hare krishna
Thunduparambil Jayaprasad

Bhakta Sunil, 17 January 2018
Please read the question-answer connected to this topic , taken from from world-famous free e-course at http://www.joincourse.com
Answers According to Vedic Wisdom

Question: Why Come Down to Chant?

Hare Krishna.
When we see clearly that the mind is higher than the senses, the intelligence even higher, and the spirit the highest, why do we come all the way down to chant in order to go back up to the spirit?

Is this done to burn out parabdha karma that keeps coming back, or is it because we are insecure on the subtle level of pure spirit?

If we learned to wait instead of going down to the mind, would there be such a positive energy that we would immediately be in bliss quite substantially, and light to see life unfold like the flowering of goodness?

Thanking you,
Yours in the dharma,
Prema.

Answer: Chanting Is Beyond Matter.

Chanting is not coming down. The name of Krishna is Krishna Himself. So when we chant His name with love we are pulled onto the spiritual platform completely beyond this material existence.

This frees us from karma and makes us solid on the platform of pure spirit.

Although patience is a virtue, waiting alone will not liberate us. We must take powerful, positive action to purify our consciousness from the contamination of material association. This is what chanting Hare Krishna does.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

www.joincourse.com

your insignificant servant,
Bhakta Sunil

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari, written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

Heat Wave in Canada(!!)

Canada is known for the cold, but there was a heat wave that killed hundreds! Why do these types of things happen? Is there any way out?

Recently, hundreds of souls have lost their current lives from a terrible heat wave in Canada. In some parts of Canada, recorded temperatures reached 49.5 degrees Celsius, or 121 F. That is more familiar to places in South Central India where I grew up. Canada is known for its cold, not hot weather. And here people of dying of excessive heat? How come?

Weather extremes are increasing all over the world. The storms are fiercer, the droughts are harsher, the rains heavier, the cold more biting… all over the world this is happening.

Some people point to climate change as the culprit, yet others deny those claims.

But it cannot be denied that the suffering of people in general has increased. This is ironic because our efforts to be free of such suffering has also reached an unprecedented frenzy. At no time in history have we tried as hard as we are trying, to mitigate and control the forces of nature. So what gives?

What is the cause of suffering? When I cause suffering, I receive suffering in return. What goes around, comes around. It’s called Karma.

When a lot of us suffer the same lot, such as collective poverty in a country, or drought, or starvation, or violence, or bad weather, or a disease that goes around, then it means that all of us are jointly liable for that suffering.

This applies to enjoyment also – souls who are jointly due for enjoyment are born in specific families, in certain communities, and so on…

It’s not that a certain place or race or group of people on the planet is doomed or condemned, it is just that there are different pockets of different kinds of enjoyments and sufferings, and the souls who deserve that fate are arranged to be put into that place.

Let’s say, for example, that a certain person has committed genocide… killed large numbers of birds, animals, or people… then that person is repeatedly born in circumstances that will cause them to suffer the same fate.

But if many souls have committed similar crimes (or good deeds), then those souls are born in similar circumstances, for example, we know so many families who are just (un)fortunate from the beginning to the end… if they are not born there, then they marry into those families… they are in certain communities, or geographically co-located. If they don’t initially land up there, they will due to work, or some other circumstances.

The suffering of a particular region, nation, or community is collective karma, we all are collectively responsible for that suffering, or enjoyment, for that matter.

So, how to get out of this? End the Karma Chakra! There are Three types of actions:

  • Karma – actions that bind us to future enjoyment
  • Vikarma – actions that bind us to future suffering
  • Akarma – actions that burn away Akarma, Vikarma, and create no further material reactions

कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मणः ।
अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गतिः ॥ १७ ॥

karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ
boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ
gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ

The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/17/

Genuine spiritual practice, such as chanting the Names of God, are in the category of “Akarma”. So, for those of you with rosaries, with chanting beads, chant that mantra intensely, more and more! And for those of you who have no such spiritual practices, take them up right now!

If you want to know how to engage in more Akarma, please let me know!

The “science”(dogma) of conjecture

Evolution is a fact. But not the way it is commonly understood… How to understand evolution scientifically?

You may have heard about Darwin’s theory of natural selection… yes, where the claim is that one species evolved into another species because the fittest who evolved survived and the others died off, thereby creating a natural evolution of species just sort of accidentally and randomly. It is in line with the magical wishful thinking of the Big Bang.

But according to the Vedic scripture all 8.4 Million species are created by the arrangement of God. 400,000 of those species are human in nature, and the remain 8 million are sub-human.

“jalaja nava lakshani, sthavara laksha-vimshati, krimayo rudra-sankhyakah, pakshinam dasha-lakshanam, trinshal-lakshani pashavah, chatur lakshani manavah”

Jalaja (Water based) – 0.9 million, Sthaavara (immobile like plants & trees) – 2.0 million, Krimaayo (Reptiles and germs) – 1.1 million, Pakshinaam (Birds) – 1.0 million, Paashavah (terrestrial animals) – 3.0 million, Maanavah (human-like bodies, including human species, demigods, danavas, gandharvas etc) – 0.4 million.

Padma Purana

Some species may be visible at some times, and other species may be present at other times. So what determines whether there are any specimens of any given species are actually on a planet at any given time?

A tiger has no choice…

Karma! Karma is the law action and reaction – every action has an equal and opposite reaction, that is the law of Karma. This most basic law of nature drives the circumstances of a living entities trajectory in the material world… simply put, certain deeds are classified “karma” or deeds that bring pleasing reactions, and certain deeds are classified “vikarma” or deeds that bring unpleasant reactions. Karma and Vikarma is only accrued in human forms of life, the sub-human species are simply living our their karma – the tiger suffers no reaction for killing a deer but a human does.

A human has choices…

अधस्तान्नरलोकस्य यावतीर्यातनादय: ।
क्रमश: समनुक्रम्य पुनरत्राव्रजेच्छुचि: ॥ ३४ ॥

adhastān nara-lokasya
yāvatīr yātanādayaḥ
kramaśaḥ samanukramya
punar atrāvrajec chuciḥ

Having gone through all the miserable, hellish conditions and having passed in a regular order through the lowest forms of animal life prior to human birth, and having thus been purged of his sins, one is reborn again as a human being on this earth.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/30/34/

After transmigrating through the millions of different species, we get a human life. What we do in our present human life determines our future trajectory.

It takes a lot of transmigraton through species to get a human life…

Of course, trying to piece together the effects of the law of karma is a fool’s errand, because here’s something – let’s say you have one seed – one karmic action. That seed sprouts, grows into a tree, flowers, and fructifies – each fruit contains many more seeds… those result in more trees and more and more and more. Pretty soon, you don’t know where you started and why you’re enjoying or suffering. All sorts of apparently anomalous phenomena occur, and people ask questions like “why do bad things happen to good people”. In the material world, no one is really fully innocent. We all came here by our own free will, due to the original sin of trying to displace God after all.

A Banyan tree – where did it all start?

There is one kind of action, called “akarma” which can be loosely translated as “inaction in action”…

कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मणः ।
अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गतिः ॥ १७ ॥

karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ
boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ
gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ

The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/17/

कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः ।
स बुद्धिमान्मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृत्स्नकर्मकृत् ॥ १८ ॥

karmaṇy akarma yaḥ paśyed
akarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ
sa buddhimān manuṣyeṣu
sa yuktaḥ kṛtsna-karma-kṛt

One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/18/

Statements like this can be mysterious and confusing, and they did end up confusing a lot of western scholars who studied the Bhagavad Gita without the guidance of the disciplic succession, a bona fide Guru.

But it is quite easy to understand with the context, go ahead and click on the link to BG 4.18 and you will get a crystal clear explanation. Basically, you might think you are inactive, but you could be accumulating karmic reactions just by your breathing… but there is a way to do everything so that not only are there no karmic reactions but your existing karmic reactions are burned away…

Coming back to the speculative idea that somehow or other one organism adapted and evolved into another species, and that the fossil record is to be taken as proof is fallacious. The fossil record, is at best, a conjecture.

Why is that?

Fossils are not truly reliable as evidence for evolution…

Because the fossil record simply represents certain events or accidents depending on whose viewpoint you are looking at – some hapless animal got caught in some clay that solidified to rock preserving the skeleton as a fossil, and just because this didn’t happen a billion years before or after doesn’t necessarily give us the time when that species was around. A fossil is essentially like a little child pointing and clicking a camera randomly – you can’t decide what exactly happened that day just from the photos. A lot of room for error.

A great book on this subject is Nature’s IQ by by Balaz Hornyansk and Istvan Tasi.

Nature’s IQ

The introduction to the book reads “It is not at all surprising that insects behave like insects, birds behave like birds, and mammals behave like mammals. They execute most of their intricate behavior in a predetermined, instinctive manner. But how do they know when and how they should act? Where did the intelligence that is manifested in nature come from? Can the current view be true, that inert matter (lacking consciousness) somehow acquired intelligence over the course of a vast span of time? Darwin’s theory of evolution is widely accepted as the explanation for the varieties of life. Evolutionists attempt to explain the origin of behavioral patterns by gradual modifications of more simple behavior forms. But when we try to explain complex animal behavior this way, it becomes impossible! Nature’s IQ invites the reader to investigate an alternative explanation. Is it possible that our world reflects, in many different ways, a supernatural intelligence that has applied its own infinitely ingenious solutions to create the living world?”

One of Darwin’s ideas is that some fortunate specimens of a particular species developed a particular advantage that helped them survive while their peers perished due to the lack of that advantage.

The key idea is that for example, it is conjectured that a giraffe needed a long neck so it could eat the leaves from trees that were very tall and thus have an advantage over those animals that depend on grass and other short plants… one day, a short-necked ancestor of a giraffe developed a slightly longer neck, and its descendants developed longer and longer necks… but the authors make an argument like, OK, what advantage did the giraffe ancestor with a neck only slightly longer than its previous generation have? How could that change continue in the absence of any tangible advantage? What about more complex instincts and behaviours? What about the intelligence that many animals exhibit?

Such examples abound in nature… Michael Cremo writes in his foreword… “These complex behaviors involve many behavioral steps, linked in specific sequences. Without all the parts of the behavior being present in proper sequence, the behavior would not be executed. We can thus say that not only biological form but biological behavior can be irreducibly complex. That means these behaviors cannot have arisen in the step by step fashion that evolution requires. Thus biological behavior also provides evidence of intelligent design.”

In other words, the theory of evolution of species is not much more than mental speculation combined with healthy doses of conjecture. It is the dogma of conjecture.

Another great book is Rethinking Darwin, by Leif Jensen.

Rethinking Darwin

What can we do then? We can evolve back to a higher consciousness with our efforts and lots of mercy.

The Vedic Scriptures say:

aprārabdha-phalaṁ pāpaṁ
kūṭaṁ bījaṁ phalonmukham
krameṇaiva pralīyeta
viṣṇu-bhakti-ratātmanām

For those who are engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all sinful reactions, whether fructified, in the stock, or in the form of a seed, gradually vanish.

Quotation from the Padma Purana in purport of https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/2/

Here is real science. You can know this, follow the process of Bhakti, Loving Devotional Service to the Supreme, and go back home. It is a repeatable process. Countless have done it. You can too. Dear Spirit Soul, you are already perfect in your original state. Over countless lifetimes, you have devolved from your original perfection to a state which is an embarrassment to your true identity. Wake up! Know yourself! Be yourself! Go back home to the spiritual realm where you belong! I pray to serve you on your journey back home, that is why I exist. Ask me how!

What “the great” took with him

Alexander “the great” took nothing of his conquests with him, or did he!

Alexander the great was a great conqueror, great emperor, and is still famous.

His empire extended across large swathes of Asia, Europe, and Africa.

But time, inexorable time, took away his life one day, while away from home, in a camp, surrounded by his doctors and generals.

As Alexander the Great lay on his deathbed, waiting to breathe his last, he told his generals that he had three last wishes.

  1. That his physicians should bear his coffin
  2. That the path leading to the grave should be strewn with the treasures he had in his treasury
  3. That his hands were to be left dangling out of the coffin.

His generals tearfully agreed, but asked why the emperor made such strange last wishes.

Alexander explained that no one was able to stop death, not even the best physicians of the most powerful emperor on earth.

He then explained that all that he had accumulated, all his treasures, were left behind.

Finally, he explained that he was taking nothing with him, that he was going empty handed.

Those were profound realisations, but there is something he did not realize.

The soul who was called “Alexander the Great” came with a lot of pious credits, the karmic credits needed to become an emperor of the world. While fulfilling his karmic destiny, he accumulated a lot of karmic reactions too.

Think of all the soldiers who died fighting for him.

Think of all the soldiers who died fighting against him.

He also took with him the results of any acts of kindness.

All for what? Just so Alexander could be a great conqueror? What did Alexander really accomplish? As he fortunately realized, better late than never, he took nothing of his achievements with him. But yes, his karmic reactions, he will carry with him.

Soon after his death, the mighty empire that he had put together after all those battles in which he was unconquered, crumbled. His once mighty body, also disintegrated.

After all, there is no endurance of the body.

नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः ।
उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः ॥ १६ ॥

nāsato vidyate bhāvo
nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ
ubhayor api dṛṣṭo ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darśibhiḥ

Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent [the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/16/

While Alexander had some realizations on his deathbed, he did not have anyone to instruct him on this important truth…

आयुर्हरति वै पुंसामुद्यन्नस्तं च यन्नसौ ।
तस्यर्ते यत्क्षणो नीत उत्तमश्लोकवार्तया ॥ १७ ॥

āyur harati vai puṁsām
udyann astaṁ ca yann asau
tasyarte yat-kṣaṇo nīta
uttama-śloka-vārtayā

Both by rising and by setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/17/

There is something else he could have taken with him. Anything spiritual he may have done. Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, the illustrious student of Plato, who is widely regarded as one of the primary contributors to Western Religion.

You may feel blessed with many gifts, or you may feel impoverished. Whether you have been given a lot or you have somehow acquired a lot, please know that you will take none of it with you.

You will however take your spiritual assets with you eternally.

नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते ।
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ॥ ४० ॥

nehābhikrama-nāśo ’sti
pratyavāyo na vidyate
sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya
trāyate mahato bhayāt

In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/40/

And what is this endeavor?

As Srila Prabhupada writes…

Activity in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or acting for the benefit of Kṛṣṇa without expectation of sense gratification, is the highest transcendental quality of work. Even a small beginning of such activity finds no impediment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage. Any work begun on the material plane has to be completed, otherwise the whole attempt becomes a failure.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/40/

A cut from above

Have you ever experienced a cut from above ever? Did you recognize it? I was fortunate to experience this…

Early this morning I was excited to be able to offer some sugarcane to Krishna. In India, sugarcane is abundantly available, and especially children and youthful persons with strong teeth enjoy chewing the sugarcane and tasting the sweet juice from the sugarcane.

It is quite the miracle, one can reflect on this, how is it that God has made it that a hard stick-like plant growing in the ground can be filled with delicious sweet juice.

In Canada sugarcane is rare, and Aruna Keshavi had managed to procure some. And to offer to Krishna, I was cutting it. There were two knives, one was like a saw, serrated edges, and he other had a straight edge to peel the hard bamboo-like exterior to expose the sweetness.

A knife, but an instrument…

It happened in a flash. The knife with the serrated edge slipped and my right index finger came in its way. Deep cut. I will spare you the gory details but it was quite bad. The wound has now dried up but it throbs as I type this out.

Immediately I started chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. At first in pain and in fear, but then as realization dawned, then in appreciation, gratitude, and finally in ecstasy. Aruna Keshavi found me ecstatic when she came down, and she did not know that a cut had sparked this ecstasy.

I reflected how it was that one little cut produced so much pain but only because I inhabited this body. A dead body feels no pain. To feel pain is a sign of life. I am alive.

I reflected how the same knife could be an instrument of loving devotional service, a source of pain, an interruption of service, a dangerous weapon or an instrument of mercy. Time, Place, and Circumstance, intent and consciousness made all the difference.

I reflected how much pain we cause those living entities on a daily basis. The ones we breathe in and kill, the ones we accidentally ingest, the ones we step on, the ones we regard as pests… the ones we eat too. I cannot imagine how anyone can think that any living entity can be “painlessly killed”, even if following the Kosher process or the Halal process. It is idiocy to think that any living entity can be peacefully killed. We should strive to minimize the pain of course, but only take as much as needed to keep body and soul together. Not one extra grain of rice. And only in an act of sacrifice to God. Of course, God is no bloodthirsty demon, so God accepts no fish or flesh.

I reflected that the knife could have cut off my finger entirely. It was a big knife, and I was using a lot of force But my finger still works. I am typing with it right now. So I knew that some big calamity had been averted by Krishna. Krishna took a mountain-load my my karma, and gave me a token, little cut instead, just to remind me of His immense mercy.

In Vedic tradition, especially Bhakti (Tradition of Loving Devotional Service to God), the index finger represents the false ego, false pride… index fingers are used to point fingers at others. When we chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra on our meditation beads, we chant with our right hand we leave the index finger outside the bead bag. We chant with the thumb and middle fingers on the beads. So this cut represented a cut to my false ego, which I need and will gladly take any day. My false ego is what keeps the subtle and not-so-subtle traces of atheism still present in my heart. With no false ego, I would be a pure devotee of Krishna!

One day will surely come when I will need to leave this body. I am attached to this body and everything connected to it. Best to remember that I am a tenant in this apartment, and I don’t exactly how long my lease is for. I am passing through. But that is a subject for another post.

I could still chant Hare Krishna. I could complete my entire morning service, without any significant problems. In fact, when I was deeply engrossed in my meditation I could not even feel the pain. So, it was a fact that my consciousness determined whether I felt material pain or spiritual bliss. And I became aware of this. Above all, it was confirmation that I am not this body.

So, I am very deeply grateful for this. It was indeed a “cut from above”.

There have been many other such situations, and each time, I ended up with an ecstatic experience, by the mercy of Sri Krishna.

Queen Kunti, one of the greatest saints of all time

So I am today praying Queen Kunti’s prayer. She said…

विपद: सन्तु ता: शश्वत्तत्र तत्र जगद्गुरो ।
भवतो दर्शनं यत्स्यादपुनर्भवदर्शनम् ॥ २५ ॥

vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat tatra tatra jagad-guro

bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād apunar bhava-darśanam

I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/8/25/

I am Krishna’s dog. Krishna can kick me or starve me. Krishna can keep me or kill me. Krishna can do whatever He likes with me. I pray to remain. I am happy to be “Das”. Please bless me that I may remain servant of the servant of God.

Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, God in the form of His own devotee!

…mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ

…He alone, and no one else, is the worshipable Lord of My heart.

Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Krishna can give me a pat on my back, or a kick on my backside. In all circumstances Krishna is my Supreme Well Wisher and Best Friend, and I pray never to forget.

भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।

सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥ २९ ॥

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram

suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/29/

So you want to serve the needy?

Would you like to help others? How do you know you are actually helping them and not prolonging their misery? How do you know you are not getting entangled in an endless web of actions and reactions?

Some say “manava seve madhava seva“, which means “by serving the needy man, you serve God”. Let us examine this… if you feed the hungry, or clothe the naked, or try to heal the sick… will that actually help them? Sure, there is some temporary relief from the pangs of material suffering. If temporary relief is your goal, sure, but what if you want to really help them out of this mess they are in? You surely cannot feed, clothe, or shelter someone forever. Even if you did, you cannot protect them from old age, disease, and eventually death.

They are suffering primarily because they are spirit souls masquerading as material bodies. The material body gets hungry, gets sick, gets old, and dies, and this is the main cause of problems.

So yes, we can serve God by serving the souls, but how we serve them determines if we become the cause of their emancipation or the cause of their (and our own!) continued bondage.

The law of karma is very complicated, and impossible to trace out fully due to the immense complexity, but it is very very precise. It will surely pay back in just measure every single reaction to every single action.

So yes, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. Not to be administered by us, but we do become instruments of that, mostly unwittingly. What personal enmity did the soldiers from Nazi Germany have against the soldiers from America in the Second World War? Why did Guenter kill Billy? Why did Tommy kill Thorsten? They owed a debt to each other, one to kill, and one to be killed, and in that particular lifetime, one soul was born in Nazi Germany, and the other was born in America. Both were enlisted, and many souls’ karmic reactions came together and manifested as the Second World War.

Every single occurence in the world is simply an example of karmic debts… someone becomes a father, someone becomes a daughter, someone becomes the slaughtherer, someone becomes the slaughtered, and in this way, ad nauseum, someone becomes an exploiter, someone becomes the exploited.

Don’t believe me? OK, let us see, what could be the karmic reward for feeding a hungry man? To be fed yourself, maybe many times over, but being fed yourself primarily. And what does the person who was fed need to do? They need to repay their debt to you. This means that both to enjoy the benefit and to get paid back, both you and the person you fed need to take birth again. Birth again, old again, sick again, and surely death again.

Don’t forget that whatever you fed someone was also a living entity – whether seed, vegetable or animal. So, who pays the debt to that living entity. You both, benefactor and beneficiary.

Same with opening up hospitals – you will one day get free medical treatment yourself.

Opening up orphanages? You will be taken care of by benevolent strangers when you become an orphan yourself.

Any philanthropic activity on the material platform results in such karmic bondage, subtle or gross.

All this sounds depressing, no?

How to actually help someone? It is commonly understood that teaching someone to farm is far better than just feeding them a few meals. Knowing that each living entity is actually spiritual in nature wearing a material covering. It then stands to reason that teaching them to shed the material covering, or in other words, helping them be purely spiritual, that is the way to actually help someone.

Want to help someone? Help them be truly spiritual through your help, let them begin their journey back home. This starts with being purely spiritual yourself. If you cannot do this, then you can continue your philanthropy, don’t stop it, because one day you may progress further…

श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते ।
ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम् ॥ १२ ॥

śreyo hi jñānam abhyāsāj
jñānād dhyānaṁ viśiṣyate
dhyānāt karma-phala-tyāgas
tyāgāc chāntir anantaram

If you cannot take to this practice, then engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is meditation, and better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for by such renunciation one can attain peace of mind.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/12/

So if you want to renounce the fruits of action, that is OK, but know that there is more, such as cultivation of knowedge, but the real deal – realized knowledge, you need to live your knowledge. Even better than the cultivation of knowledge is meditation, and what is the highest?

Being purely conscious of Krishna is higher.

What is even still higher?

And even higher?

And the highest?

मय्येव मन आधत्स्व मयि बुद्धिं निवेशय ।
निवसिष्यसि मय्येव अत ऊर्ध्वं न संशय: ॥ ८ ॥

mayy eva mana ādhatsva
mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya
nivasiṣyasi mayy eva
ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ

Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/8/

Ultimately however, this the way to please God the most…

Generally it is advised that Bhagavad-gītā be discussed amongst the devotees only, for those who are not devotees will understand neither Kṛṣṇa nor Bhagavad-gītā. Those who do not accept Kṛṣṇa as He is and Bhagavad-gītā as it is should not try to explain Bhagavad-gītā whimsically and become offenders. Bhagavad-gītā should be explained to persons who are ready to accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is a subject matter for the devotees only and not for philosophical speculators. Anyone, however, who tries sincerely to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is will advance in devotional activities and reach the pure devotional state of life. As a result of such pure devotion, he is sure to go back home, back to Godhead.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/68/

Want to read more? Try this.

Help others, truly help them, start by helping yourself first.

You can start by chanting this purely spiritual mantra, even if just once:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

The Maha Mantra, the Great Mantra for Deliverance from Material Bondage and Development of Pure Spiritual Nature

Try it out. Help me help others. Please let me know I may serve you on your spiritual journey.

What to do about unknowingly committed sins?

What do do about unknowingly committed sins?

Rashmi Chhabra, 24 May 2019

Hare Krishna everyone.

Please accept my humble obeisances

I have a query. When we breathe, we kill microbes. When we walk we may kill ants or other tiny creatures. Definitely we are doing sins like this and many other times when we are unaware of.

How to counter or at least minimize reactions from such sins?

Thank you all,

Rashmi

Bhakta Sunil, 24 May 2019

Hare Krishna Mataji,

Regarding your question, i found the following Question-Answer dated 4th May 2019 from daily emails via www.joincourse.com

Question: What is Karma?

What is karma? Is it daily mundane work? Or is it something else?

Ashish Tiwary

Answer:  Our Actions

From: Riga, Latvia

My Dear Ashish,

Please accept my blessings.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Karma is our actions. They bring a material reaction. Everything we do creates a karmic reaction, even our breathing. For example, when we breathe we kill so many microbial germs. The karmic reaction for this is that in a future lifetime we will become microbial germs to be killed by the very same microbial germ, who is now in a human form, that we killed.

The only escape from this powerful wheel of karma is to fully surrender to Krishna, who then mercifully frees us from all of our karmic reactions and takes us back to His eternal abode where there is no birth, no death, no old age, and no disease. There we will enjoy an eternal life, full of bliss, andcfull of knowledge.

I hope this meets you in the best of health

and in an ecstatic mood.

Your ever well-wisher,

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sudarshan Das, 24 May 2019

Hare Krishna Mataji,

Please accept my humble obeisances

That’s a very beautiful question. It is beautiful because Arjuna had asked the same question.

arjuna uvāca

atha kena prayukto ’yaṁ

pāpaṁ carati pūruṣaḥ

anicchann api vārṣṇeya

balād iva niyojitaḥ

Synonyms:

arjunaḥ uvāca — Arjuna said; atha — then; kena — by what; prayuktaḥ — impelled; ayam — one; pāpam — sins; carati — does; pūruṣaḥ — a man; anicchan — without desiring; api — although; vārṣṇeya — O descendant of Vṛṣṇi; balāt — by force; iva — as if; niyojitaḥ — engaged.

Translation:

Arjuna said: O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?

Bhagavad-gītā 3.36

Simple answer is to be at the stage of doing akarma. When you walk, walk for Krishna; when you breath, breath for Krishna. This way you are not subjected to any sin or reactions.

Your Servant,

Sudarshan Das

Bhakta Shashank, 24 May 2019

Hare Krishna Mata ji,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Lord Krishna Says in Bhagavata Gita 18th Chapter, 66th verse:

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo

mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

Translation:

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/66/

So we just have to surrender to Krishna and He will take are of everything. But how to do that? We can do that by surrendering to the Spiritual Master.

Your servant,

Sacinandana Das.

Shridhar Das, 24 May 2019

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisance,

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

All Glories to Sri Guru & sri Gauranga!

Seeing the enthusiasm, I am also inspired to answer.

Material world is such that one cannot pass a moment without sinning as examples in your question clearly states. Laws of material nature implicates and keeps us all by its shackles in various alluring forms.

Only a rare person in this age of Kali even cares to know how to get rid of such an implication.

Actually, I had once heard from a superior that there is sin tank in our hearts. When we perform devotional activity we immediately become sinless and experience happiness. But later, again the sinful reactions stock up. So this is an ever going cycle.

The solution is that we don’t have to worry about “Becoming sinless” but about “Being Krishna Conscious” as the devotees have already answered wonderfully below by choosing apt verses.

There is no need to give up our routine tasks, but simply changing the goal for whom we are doing the act.

In that way, our working a job, our cooking food, buying vegetables, our saving time, our earning/spending money, sleeping/rising on time, etc. everything will remain the same but because the goal becomes to please Guru & Krishna, all unintended sinful activities shall never act upon us. Not only that, any inclination to commit sinful activity also is uprooted!!! That is speciality of Acting in Transcendental Knowledge. That is why devotees take responsibilities for Krishna in form of Temple Services which keeps them busy in serving Krishna & His devotees. There are various services on this group as well.

In conclusion, the reactions from past constantly keep acting on us but the shield of Krishna Consciousness around us will powder those reactions into dust. We simply need to think of pleasure of Guru & Krishna in whatever we do – will this action/thought/plan/word be a nice offering to Them?

Your servant

Shridhar das

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at sda-archives.com), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

The grain of rice, who gave up his life

What did you eat this morning? Was it a brother? A mother? A father? Every living entity is intimately related to us. We owe it to them to make their life worthwhile, even if they were just a grain of rice…

There was a family gathering, a few family members got together. On the family WhatsApp group, one said “Oh, I wish you were there”, another said “it would be great to get the whole family together”.

That got me thinking. Who is “whole” family? Just the ones who were born to your father and/or mother? Maybe the cousins? How about the more distant relatives?

Instead of the “relative” platform, I was reminded that every single living entity came from the same one source, the source of all moving and nonmoving beings, the source of all things in the material Universe, the source of light, the source of space, the source of sound, the source of everything we can imagine and beyond.

Even that grain of rice, who, before he was harvested and processed, had the ability to sprout into a rice plant, he was not conscious of his family, but still had a right to live out his life as a plant.

When I think about it, the wooden furniture I am using right now, the cotton fibres that make up my clothes, the grains of rice I had for lunch today, each and every one of them, was a living being. They sacrificed their lives so I could live.

What a debt of gratitude I owe them! What can I do today to make their sacrificed worthwhile?

The farmer who planted the rice seed, the one who watered it and the one who harvested it. The one who husked that grain of rice, the one who packaged up the rice. The truck driver, the shipyard hand, the grocer, the cook of that rice… they were all involved.

When anything is used in the service of God, then everyone who helped make that service possible is benefited. But if all I did was take the grain of rice for my own gratification, then I will surely pay for my action and everyone else will partake too.

It is the law of the material world…

अहस्तानि सहस्तानामपदानि चतुष्पदाम् ।
फल्गूनि तत्र महतां जीवो जीवस्य जीवनम् ॥ ४७ ॥ ahastāni sahastānām
apadāni catuṣ-padām
phalgūni tatra mahatāṁ
jīvo jīvasya jīvanam

Those who are devoid of hands are prey for those who have hands; those devoid of legs are prey for the four-legged. The weak are the subsistence of the strong, and the general rule holds that one living being is food for another.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/13/47/

If I were to accept that grain of rice just for myself, then it would implicate me in karma, an endless cycle of action and reaction…

So, this morning, that grain of rice, in a bowl of rice, was lovingly offered to Krishna in an act of sacrifice.

पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्य‍ा प्रयच्छति ।
तदहं भक्त्य‍ुपहृतमश्न‍ामि प्रयतात्मन: ॥ २६ ॥
patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/26/

And when Krishna accepted that grain of rice, his life as a grain of rice had become successful.

Do you feel compassion for the countless living entities who die so you may live? Do you want to take a karma-free diet? Please ask me how!

Escape Manual

In one of my first posts, we explored souls in the material realm . Somehow or other, we are here. In this realm, every action causes reactions, some direct, some indirect. And most actions have consequences, even if the action was “unavoidable”. The consequences of action and reaction is so mind-boggling complex that the best minds are way too feeble to track and comprehend.

If I sow one seed, and that seed gives rise to 10,000 seeds every year, and just a fraction of them, say 1,000 sprout and give rise to 10,000 seeds every year. In just 100 years, how many seeds will this one initial seed produce?

aprarabdha-phalam papam
kutam bijam phalonmukham
kramenaiva praliyeta
visnu-bhakti-ratatmanam

There are different stages of dormant reactions to sinful activities to be observed in a sinful life. Sinful reactions may be just waiting to take effect [phalonmukha], reactions may be still further dormant [kuta], or the reactions may be in a seedlike state [bija]. In any case, all types of sinful reactions are vanquished one after another if a person engages in the devotional service of Lord Visnu.”

Padma Purana

We have been here a long long time, and every moment here, just by the simple act of breathing, prolongs our cycle of reactions.

To live, I need to breathe, I need to eat.

अहस्तानि सहस्तानामपदानि चतुष्पदाम् ।
फल्गूनि तत्र महतां जीवो जीवस्य जीवनम् ॥ ४७ ॥
ahastāni sahastānām
apadāni catuṣ-padām
phalgūni tatra mahatāṁ
jīvo jīvasya jīvanam
Those who are devoid of hands are prey for those who have hands; those devoid of legs are prey for the four-legged. The weak are the subsistence of the strong, and the general rule holds that one living being is food for another.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/13/47/

So how can a being trapped in this endless cycle of action, reaction, birth and death ever escape?

Here is the Escape Manual!

Anyone who reads and strives to apply the principles of the Bhagavad Gita “The Song of God” gets on the trajectory of escape from the material realm. And anyone who begins that journey gains ever-increasing momentum, even if progress may be imperceptible at first.

If you need a copy, let me know!

Randomness is a Myth

Randomness is a myth. Randomness does not exist. But we can learn to free ourselves from the complexities of what appears to be random

You heard that right! Yes. Randomness is another one of those things that doesn’t exist, just like nothingness. Nothing is ever random. Randomness is one of these (or a variant) in every single case:

  1. A figment of imagination
  2. A sign of ignorance
  3. A device, tool, a starting point

Randomness as Imagination – it is very tempting, for someone who wants to pretend that their actions have no consequences, or someone who does not want to take responsibility for their actions, to pretend that the Universe is random. But of course, imagination goes only so far – it is not true.

Randomness as Ignorance – If I gave you an extremely complex mathematical formula, and asked you to show someone else the results of that formula with different hidden inputs, those results can very well appear to be random. But they are not random to someone who knows the equation and the inputs, in this case, you and me. So the outputs simply appear random, they are not so.

Randomness as a tool, a starting point – In many mathematical and scientific disciplines, just like the square root of -1, “i“, to pretend that the space is populated with random values helps to “seed” certain algorithms. This process implicitly acknowledges that randomness is simply a tool, a starting point to reach a model or understanding that is not random.

So if everything is not random, then why does it appear to be? Complexity. The laws of material nature, which are anything but random, are the creation of God, who is above the laws of material nature. The laws themselves are quite simple, but when the laws interact with themselves over and over again, the complexity they generate is mind-boggling.

Take a simple example of me planting one apple seed, just one seed. Not all seeds sprout but if/when this one does, it brings forth a seedling. Not all seedlings grow to be a tree, but if/when this one does, it bears flowers. Not all flowers turn to fruit, but some do. Not all fruits have seeds in them, but most of them do. When these seeds disperse, many sprout, give rise to trees, and this process endlessly continues, as long as the material circumstances are favourable.

After just a few decades, it will be impossible for a person who didn’t witness me planting the first apple seed to detect which apple tree was the first one. It will be impossible, even for me, to tell which tree an apple came from… or to tell for sure which specific seed caused which specific tree to grow.

Which brings us to the oft-heard saying, humans can count the fruits in a tree or the seeds in a fruit, but only God knows how many trees there are inside one seed. God is infinite, and therefore, it is possible for God to know all the permutations, with vision undisturbed by time.

Karma, the law of action and reaction has been described in the Vedic scriptures many millenia ago. A more recent rediscovery of the principles of Karma is by Isaac Newton “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction“. Sometimes, people say “what goes around, comes around“.

I heard that Lord Buddha said that if one were to stack the skeletons of all the bodies one soul has inhabited, those bones will block out the sun! Every soul inhabiting the material world has had many many actions (seeds), giving rise to many many beginning to sprout (seedlings), with many different resultant symptoms (flowers and fruits). It is hard to take one particular symptom of one’s life today and try to ascertain what specific action caused it. But just because it is hard doesn’t mean that randomness is the answer.

So what is the solution? How does one get out of the dense forest of karmic actions and reactions? The Bhagavad Gita defines a particular type of action and classifies it as “akarma” – “inaction”. This inaction is not some sort of inert “do nothing / sit still / renounce all action” practiced by the immature spiritualists or lazy materialists, but it is those actions that are spiritual in nature – that which serve to reconnect spirit to the Supreme Spirit, God.

“The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is.” BG 4.17

There is no randomness, everything is actually quite ordered and structured, it is simply a matter of the choices we have made in the past. And just as our present circumstances may appear complex, we can unravel and simplify just as someone pieces together a jumbled up jigsaw puzzle, with time, patience, and determination.

aprarabdha-phalam papam
kutam bijam phalonmukham
kramenaiva praliyeta
vishnu-bhakti-ratatmanam
 
Persons who are completely engaged in the devotional service of the Lord Vishnu the Personality of Godhead—becomes completely extinct from all sorts of vicious reactions which either potential, germinating, seedling or current by a gradual process. (from Padma Purana)
 
असत्यमप्रतिष्ठं ते जगदाहुरनीश्वरम् ।
अपरस्परसंभूतं किमन्यत्कामहैतुकम् ॥ १६.८ ॥
asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te
jagad āhur anīśvaram
aparaspara-sambhūtaṁ
kim anyat kāma-haitukam
 
They say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in control. They say it is produced of sex desire and has no cause other than lust. BG 16.8 https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/8/
 
कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मणः ।
अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गतिः ॥ ४.१७ ॥
karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ
boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ
gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ
 

The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is. BG 4.17 https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/17/

 
BG 4.17:
The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is.
BG 4.18:
One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.

What could possibly be unknown to You, O master? With vision undisturbed by time, You witness the minds of all living beings. Nevertheless, on Your order I will speak. SB 10.64.11 https://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/10/64/11

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Why are Intoxicated People Happy?

Jaanvi, 06 February 2015

Dear all,

Hare Krsna

There are many people who like indulging in alcohol and have a very strong and healthy body as well as being happy. And then, there are those who do not consume alcohol and have a weak body. Now, could you tell me how to understand this difference?

Sincerely,
Jaanvi

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 06 February 2015

Hare Krishna!

Mother Jaanvi – our present health has many contributing factors. One of them is called “past karma”. A pious person today may have been impious before thus accruing negative karmic reactions, and an impious person today may have been pious before this accruing positive karmic reactions. It is something like a bank account… suppose two people keep spending money equally from their bank accounts, one person’s bank account suddenly becomes empty and the person has no more money, but the other person’s account has a lot more money… but if they keep spending, that account also will become empty.

It is like a Ferris wheel… some people are on top, some people are at the bottom, but the wheel of time turns and situations change.

A fool who keeps indulging in intoxication will eventually fall sick, grow old, and die, nothing is permanent in this material world.

But, Srila Gurudeva has explained that the pious person who is suffering should internally rejoice because their past reactions are getting finished and soon they will be closer to liberation. And the impious person should be gravely thinking that their stock of good karma is rapidly diminishing and some day soon they will have to face up to their current impiety.

The Krishna conscious person sees both with an equal vision, every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future, in this way both saints or sinners can be fully Krishna conscious. But neither the pious nor impious person are really fortunate, unless they are striving to be Krishna conscious.

Krishna consciousness is the only way by which one can get off this “samsara chakra”, the inescapable prison of complete entanglement.

Hope this helps! Other devotees, please do feel free to contribute.

Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das

Sacinandana Das, 07th February 2015

Hare Krishna Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev.

We are not this body. This body is a temporary covering. Only foolish people drink alcohol as its written on the bottle that its injurious to health. Body is secondary. Consciousness is more important. Its better to be Krishna Conscious in a weak body and go Back to Godhead other than being a materialistic drunkard and taking birth as an animal. Only avoiding alcohol is not enough, we should eat and drink only Krishna Prasadam – sanctified vegetarian foodstuff. Generally devotees have a very strong and healthy body. Devotees are the most happy people on this planet. If a man is happy why does he need to drink alcohol?

your servant,
Sacinandana Das

Jaanvi, 8th February 2015

Dear Prabhujis,

Hare Krsna

Thanks for your clear explaination to this query.

Sincerely,
Jaanvi

Saurov, 10th February 2015

Hare Krishna,
My feeling is that when Krishna wants us to come back home, he creates certain situations so that we do not wander. Problems, though we might feel punishing in the short run, is a blessing in the long run as this prevents us from indulging in vices. It is a form of Krishna’s love and mercy. I have seen healthy people so involved in indulging their senses that there is no chance for them to remember Krishna in the present condition.
I agree with all the points Mahabhagavat Prabhu has mentioned. This was my additional input from my own realisations.

Hari Bol,
Saurov

 

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Why do Horrible Incidents happen?

Jaanvi, 15th January 2015

Dear All,

Hare Krsna

In this material world, there are so many horrible incidents happening everywhere such as innocent people being killed either by personal family or outside situation?

Now, since God is in every living being’s heart then how come he allows this to happen?

Sincerely,
Jaanvi

 

Rupa Manjari devi dasi, 16th January 2015

Hare Krishna!

Dear Mataji,

This is a common question, often the answer is difficult to digest, if one does not have a grasp on the philosophy. Srila Prahbupada explains this clearly in his books as Krishna explains it in Bhagavad-Gita, where he talks about Karma.

The truth is no one is innocent apart from the few pure souls who have descended here to save us. The materiel world is a prision house for those who wish to leave the loving service of Krishna. Due to our envy we are here trying to Lord is over materiel nature. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, a man reaps what he sows.

The naked truth is everyone gets what they deserve.

However we must be careful not to judge, just because such terrible things have not happened to us yet. We have committed many sinful activities over many thousands of lives, and though all the reactions have not yet fruitified, they may later in life or next lives. Though of course for a devotee one is only getting a token reaction, and our past karma is burnt up during initiation(hour indebted we are to our spiritual master), however we have so much ugly Karma we should be suffering for it.

Rupa Goswami explains in Nectar of Devotion there are four kinds of effects due to sinful activities
1)The effect which is not yet fructified,( the reactions to our activities that are lying dormant) 2) the effect which is lying as a seed ( which are the sinful desires stored in the heart which is a result of past activities which give us inclination to perform more sinful activities),3) The effect that which is almost mature 4)) The effect which is already mature, (The suffering we are experiencing presently).

These four effects can be immediately vanquished by one who surrenders to the Supreme Personaility of Godhead. Some forms of atonement can vanquish those reactions that have not yet fructified but only Devotional service can vanquish the desire to commit the activity again. Therefore unless one adopts the path of devotional service to the Lord one will never be fully free from the reactions of his activites and thus one must continue to suffer birth after birth.

Why does the Lord allow this to happen? Because he loves us. If a child insists on touching fire he will get burnt. He is never likely to do the stupid thing again. But of course the father tries to instruct the child first. That is why the Vedas are there, vanasrama, instructions on our to live a pious life as to minimise one suffering in this materiel world, but ultimately, no one can truly be happy here, as it not one’s true home or nature as a fish can never be happy out of water. So the Lord wants us to be truly happy, eternally happy so that is why there is temporary suffering for sinful activities. There are four types of people who begin to take up devotional service. The distress is one of them.

So we should have compassion for those who are suffering, because they do not have Krishna consciousness. Whether it is the child who is brutally murdered or the lady that just inherited a million dollars and appears happy, as in reality they are both suffering for they have forgotten their constitutional postion as Krsna’s loving servant. The child who was murdered may of burnt of that reaction and in the next life getting some temporary enjoyment and the enjoying lady in this life may be manifesting some terrible kama in her next life, but without Krishna consciousness, apparent good or apparent bad is all misery, Thus as Krishna says in Bhagavd-gita one must become transcendental the dualities of materiel nature.

So in conclusion one must give everyone in some way, some how Krishna consciousness so they can permantely escape the miseries of materiel existence.

your servant
Rupa Manjari devi dasi

 

Priya Sutradhar, 16th January 2015

Hare Krsna
Dear Rupa Manjari Mataji, you have given a wonderful answer. Thank you so much for enlightening us.

ys,
Priya

 

Sridhar Das, 16th January 2015

Hare Krishna Mataji
Please accept my humble obeisances!

Your question actually best is answered in the lecture: Unflinching faith in guru, Arrival lecture, San Francisco, July 1975 by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. It should be around 39 minutes mataji, please hear! I will however paste the following:

Just coming here from Philadelphia we were talking with the aeroplane crews, the captain, the pilot. They (were) very patiently hearing us. The question was very intelligent, question pilot made, that “If everything is created by God…” Yes. That is a fact. Janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]. The Vedānta-sūtra says everything is emanated from God. Without a thing being present in God, there cannot be any existence of anything. That’s a fact. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam [Īśo mantra 1]. So his question was, “Then what is this evil?” The evil is also God’s creation.

So I explained like this, that for God there is no good or evil; everything is good. So I gave him this example that good, or piety, that is God’s frontage, and evil means God’s back side. So taking this example, the chest or the back of my body, they are equal. It is not that when there is some pain on the back side I don’t care for it; I simply take care of when there is pain in the chest. No. Although it is back side, it is as important as the front side. Then evil and good is also of the same importance? No. Evil… That I gave the example, that for God there is nothing evil. I gave another example. Just like the sun, there is no darkness. Anywhere of sun’s body, there is no darkness. But for us there is light and darkness. Just like if you keep the sun back side, you will find darkness, a very long darkness, your shadow. And if you keep yourself in front, sun, there is no darkness. So it is my business; I create darkness. As soon as I change my position—instead of remaining in front of God, I keep God back side—then there is darkness. Otherwise there is no question of darkness. But in the sun as it is, there is no such darkness. Therefore God is all good. And for us, when we forget God, that is evil. And when we are in God consciousness always, everything good. Is that example all right?
Devotees: Jaya!
Bahulāśva: Perfect.

It is untrue Mataji that Krishna is freely letting us suffer. If one accepts Krishna as Supreme then one must also accept His peace formula – BG 5.29? The reason why we are suffering is because this place is house of miseries. Question should be why are we here?
We actually wanted to be the centre of all enjoyment like Krishna, independently. Therefore Krishna gave us the independence even though we are constitutionally His dependent servants. This is His kindness
So the scenario is: We wanted to be independent enjoyers and Krishna despite being Supreme, acts as our servant, a loving Father by giving us this independence here, where we can enjoy freely. Now we are blaming Krishna that, why are you so loving? Isn’t this childish? Shouldn’t we understand that love is voluntary and not forceful? What is the use of our free will then?
On the other hand, is Krishna really so cruel? Hasn’t He provided us literatures and scriptures as instructions? Didn’t He Himself descend and instruct? Didn’t He recently send His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and other acharyas? In fact He Himself descended again and again until He gave us the easiest process of Sankirtan yajna.
Yet if we block our eyes and ears, then where is the scope of peace? Suffering is inevitable. Suffering means we cannot be independent enjoyers, but are dependent enjoyers. Therefore we must re-accept our constitutional position of eternity, bliss and knowledge by re-accepting Krishna as Supreme as per BG 5.29. We were never related with suffering. But by blocking the sunlight, darkness arises and by accepting Krishna, the sun, darkness/suffering will automatically diminish.
The suggested lecture above by His Divine Grace also is also based on BG 5.29. Please hear it and it will solve your other past queries Mataji.

your servant
Sridhar Das

jaanvi, 16th January 2015

Dear Mataji,

Hare Krsna

Thanks for your reply with all the teachings.

It may take time to digest this unacceptable truth.

Sincerely,
Jaanvi

 

Rupa Manjari devi dasi, 17th January 2015

Hare Krishna Mataji,

Please absorb yourself in reading Srila Prahbupada’ books, especially Bhagavad-Gita. Intially this conception may be difficult to digest but due to the pure potency of Srila Prahbupada one can easily realize this. When one can factually realize that one is not the body, the truth is liberating.

Sometimes quotes from Jesus come to my mind as I was raised a Christian, Jesus says, “Continue in my word and you shall no the truth and the truth will set you free,”, therefrore if one continues under the guidance of the spiritual master, continues to read Srila Prahbupada’s books and inquire from the pure devotees then very easily you will become fully realized and the truth will no longer be unacceptable to you.

I am not very advance, and perhaps my presentation of this truth is somewhat flawed. If there is still doubt in which it appears to be please inquire from His Grace Sriman Sankarshana das Adhikari, because of his purity he will be able to explains things clearly.

your servant

Rupa Manjari devi dasi

 

jaanvi, 18th January 2015

Dear Matajis,

Hare Krsna

Thanks for all your answers and explainations.

Could you tell me where can I find the. lecture of Srila Praphupada as per mentioned.

Sincerely,
Jaanvi

 

Sridhar Das, 17th February 2015

Hare Krishna Mataji!

If you were referring to the lecture Unflinching faith in guru – San Francisco – 1975 based on Bhagavad GIta 5.29, the link is shared below. Both audio and transcripts are available.

http://vanisource.org/wiki/750715_-_Lecture_Arrival_-_San_Francisco

If you were asking for the same lecture, I beg forgiveness for not looking into it soon, being entangled in personal interests.

your servant
Shreyas

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What to do with money found

Jaanvi, 29th December 2014

Dear all,

HARE KRSNA

Could you tell me if someone finds a big sum of money on the road, he has no idea who it belongs to. Is it correct to keep it for own use. Will this create any karmic action? Or maybe, this could be due to his past karmic reaction that he found this money?

Sincerely,
Jaanvi

Sridhar Das, 30th December 2014

Hare Krishna!
Please accept my humble obeisances!

Mataji, after understanding this basic principle of karma, you will be able to answer it:

yajñārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra
loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ
tad-arthaṁ karma kaunteya
mukta-saṅgaḥ samācara

Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed; otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage. (BG 3.9)

Further understanding from Nectar of Instructions, Text 2:

“The wealth of the world actually belongs to Kṛṣṇa, and every living entity, man and animal, has the birthright to use God’s property for his maintenance. When one takes more than his maintenance requires – be he a capitalist or a communist – he is a thief, and as such he is liable to be punished by the laws of nature. The wealth of the world should be used for the welfare of all living entities, for that is the plan of Mother Nature. Everyone has the right to live by utilizing the wealth of the Lord. When people learn the art of scientifically utilizing the Lord’s property, they will no longer encroach upon one another’s rights. Then an ideal society can be formed.

The basic principle for such a spiritual society is stated in the first mantra of Śrī Īśopaniṣad:

īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvaṁ
yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā
mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam

“Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.”

Therefore, its very important to learn this science in order to know what real welfare is. Only then can we utilize everything perfectly.

The ultimate understanding of this science is as Srila Prabhupada explained – Everything belongs to Krishna.

If I use it for my enjoyment, then I am a thief, meant to be punished (This is karma). If I think, “I am not the enjoyer, let me renounce the money!” that is also foolishness for how can one renounce that which never belonged to that person?

However, If used for Krishna’s enjoyment it’s akarma (boundless action). In fact not only me but the person to whom the money so-called belongs, will also benefit tremendously. Akarma or devotional service will rather destroy all the past karmic reactions!

Therefore, one should know the Original proprietor.

Then, next duty is to apply the knowledge and preach. I daily encounter people who think by working hard like asses honestly (honest asses), one will be liberated. While they are working hard for little grass thinking of liberation, its pitiable that they are indeed preparing themselves to become an ass or so in their next birth. This is the result of a spiritually illiterate society, with the wrong understanding of karma.

But in real world, I won’t steal and run away such money. I shall definitely seek out the person who may be in dire need of that money. If found then I shall request for some donation from him for his benefit. If not, then I shall see how I may ‘smartly’ do the right thing for the mass out of illiteracy may consider me a criminal.

Also, in one of the lectures Srila Gurudeva was giving an insider secret of a spiritual master, to a devotee who is a sales manager of a company with many karmis working under him: The spiritual master sees every one as a part and parcel of Krishna who are covered devotees now. The spiritual master sees, how shall I engage them in such a way that majority of their energy is transferred to Krishna. Therefore we must feed them prashadam. Or accept what they may offer and see how to donate it to Krishna. Accept their love or appreciation. When the boss appreciates the devotee for his work, that is also offered to Krishna!
For this one needs to be very strong in sadhana, for all the karmic reactions being directed to Krishna will be directed through him as the medium.

your servant
Sridhar Das

Sacinandana Prabhu, 30th December 2014

Hare Krishna Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

It would be good to donate the money to the local Iskcon Temple.

your servant,
Sacinandana das

Manian VB, 30th December 2014

hare krishna: the question is whether to return the money or use it for you. if you cannot find the owner, you have to use it for spreading krishna concisous as using for personal bnefits will create karmic reactions. your undeserving servant. manain

Rasika Krishna Das, 30th December 2014

Mother Jaanvi,

Hare Krishna!

From the book ‘Nectar of Instruction’:

If a hundred dollar bill is lying on the street, someone may pick it up and put it in his pocket. Such a man is not honest. Another man may see the money and decide to let it remain there, thinking that he should not touch another’s property. Although this second man does not steal the money for his own purposes, he is unaware of its proper use. The third man who sees the hundred-dollar bill may pick it up, find the man who lost it and deliver it to him. This man does not steal the money to spend for himself, nor does he neglect it and let it lie in the street. By taking it and delivering it to the man who has lost it, this man is both honest and wise.

Since the wealth of the world actually belongs to Krsna, so the money can be donated to nearest ISKCON so that it can be best used for the welfare of all living entities.

Sincerely,
Rasika Krishna Das

Gabrielė, 30th December 2014

Hare Krishna, my humble obeisances,

This happened to me too, found 100 EUR on the road. I offered those money to Srila Gurudeva on Vyasa Puja. I do not know if it was the perfect way to do…

your servant,
Gabriele

Rathin Mandal, 30th December 2014

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumataji,

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I had received a very nice teaching, regarding this from Her Grace Shyamamohini Mataji in Toronto. Everything belongs to Krishna.
We all went to book distribution once. On our way back, in one place we saw many coins lying on ground. We ask nearby people if it was their money. Everyone said NO. Then Mataji said that pick up the money. It is Krishna’s money, let us return it back to him. So we will picked up the coins and deposited in the temple.

The lesson I learned was that if I come across something that does not belong to me, then I should try to use it in service of Krishna or give it to someone who can use it for service, if I am not fully capable of doing that. Keeping something for myself, which is not mine, is certainly an attachment. That’s too a bad kind of attachment.

Also if we donate that in service of Sri Krishna, than we are also helping that person who lost something. As his earning has been used in service for Sri Krishna. That is good for him.

your Servant
Rathin

Jaanvi, 31st December 2014

Dear Matajis and Prabhujis,

Hare Krsna

Thanks so much for all your answers.

Sincerely,
Jaanvi

Rahul Mangla, 31st December 2014

Hare Krishna!

Rathin prabhu, the last point you wrote is excellent. I never thought of it. Thank you 🙂

your servant,
Rasika Krishna Das

Jaanvi, 03rd January 2015

Dear Matajis and Prabhujis,

Hare Krsna

Thanks so much for all your answers.

Sincerely,
Jaanvi

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What is difference between Karmi and Karma Yogi?

Bhakta Sunil, 22nd November 2013

Hare Krishna everyone!

Please accept my humble obeisances
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

Please tell what is the difference between karmi and karmayogi?

Regards,
Sunil

Shreyas, 22nd November 2013

Hare Krishna to all the devotees,
Dandavat Pranam!
Jaya Srila Gurudev!

This is my understanding:

Karmi is one who acts for his own sense gratification. One who is attached to the results

Karma yogi is one who acts with detachment to the results. This is the first step to the ladder of yoga which leads to Bhakti Yoga, the ultimate goal.

However Bhakta is one who acts for gratifying the senses of the Lord. This is Bhakti yoga, perfection of Karma yoga. Karma yoga as the ultimate. The actual destination.

I wish to be corrected if my understanding is incorrect.

your servant.

Hare Krishna 🙂
Shreyas

Jagannatha dasa, 23rd November 2013

Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Gurudeva!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Karma is the execution of activites recommended in the sastra as pious.  The result of such action is pious reactions which can lead one to higher planets in this material world for a superior standard of material enjoyment.  If one neglects to act according to sastric injunctions and instead acts whimsically, that is known as vikarma, and it results in sinful reactions which can drive one down to lower births to experience severe restriction of enjoyment.

Akarma, or bhakti is when one engages in devotional service of the Lord.

When that devotional service is performed with ones activites directly, like walking to the temple, cooking for the Lord, embracing the devotees, or indirectly by offering the money one earns to Krishna for example, that manifestation of bhakti is called karma-yoga, or activity linking one to Krishna.  It is akarma.

Similarly when one who is eager to please Krishna, and therefore studies sastra to know what Krishna wants, under the guidance of the Lord’s devotees, such engagement of the intelligence in Krishna’s service is called jnana-yoga.  It is also bhakti, or akarma.  The result of akarma is that one’s pious and sinful reactions, everything binding us to this material world, are all destroyed (karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti bhajam), and one transcends repeated birth and death by going back to home, back to Godhead.

I hope it’s clear.

your servant,
Jagannatha Dasa Brahmacari

Shreyas, 23rd November 2013

Hare Krishna Prabhuji.

It is very clear now. Thank you for providing a nice explanation including jnana yoga as well and again making realize that as akarma Prabhuji.

your servant

Hare Krishna
Gusti Nyoman Ambara, 23rd November 2013

Hare Krishna Prabhuji

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumataji,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you very much for sharing this clear explanation. Please also kindly enlighten me, what is raja-yoga (in relationship with Krishna consciousness)? Thank you.

your insignificant servant
Gusti Nyoman Ambara
Bhakta Sunil, 24th November 2013

Hare Krishna everyone!

Thank you very much Shreyas ji and Jagannatha Prabhu ji for reply to question

I was very pleased to read your replies and my confusion got cleared

Regards,
Sunil

Rathin Mandal, 26th November 2013

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Your Lotus Feet and Srimati Gurumataji,

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Can we say that a karma yogi is in higher position then a jnana yogi and dhyana yogi.
I am taking verse “BG 12.12: If you cannot take to this practice, then engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is meditation, and better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for by such renunciation one can attain peace of mind.”

Whatever time I have spend with devotees, all I can understand the ‘renunciation of the fruits of action’ is very difficult. Until one is in knowledge of Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna and one is not engrossed in thougths of Sri Krishna. He cannot give up the results of his work neither in tangible form nor in intangible form.

your Servant
Rathin

Shreyas, 26th February 2014

Hare Krsna!

That’s a good question. But what I understood was that jnana yogi is below dhyana yogi. [Dhyana yogi should be those in astanga yoga,meditation ]. Jnana yogi must lead to Brahman realization and Dhyana yoga must lead to Paramatma realization.

Coming back to your question:
Karma yogi however is below jnana yogi. “Renunciation of the fruits of action”, shouldn’t that be above a karma-yogi? Because karma yogi means that one is attached to either the fruits or the work (I am also understanding it currently). So meditation surely is above renunciation of the fruits of action (karma yoga)

The following should also help us from the Bhagavad Gita 6.46 purport:

The culmination of all kinds of yoga practices lies in bhakti yoga. All other yogas are but means to come to the point of bhakti in bhakti-yoga. Yoga actually means bhakti-yoga; all other yogas are progressions toward the destination of bhakti-yoga. From the beginning of karma-yoga to the end of bhakti-yoga is a long way to self-realization. Karma-yoga, without fruitive results, is the beginning of this path. When karma-yoga increases in knowledge and renunciation, the stage is called jñāna-yoga. When jñāna-yoga increases in meditation on the Supersoul by different physical processes, and the mind is on Him, it is called aṣṭāṅga-yoga. And when one surpasses the aṣṭāṅga-yoga and comes to the point of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa, it is calledbhakti-yoga, the culmination. Factually, bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal, but to analyze bhakti-yoga minutely one has to understand these other yogas. The yogī who is progressive is therefore on the true path of eternal good fortune. One who sticks to a particular point and does not make further progress is called by that particular name:karma-yogī, jñāna-yogī or dhyāna-yogī, rāja-yogī, haṭha-yogī, etc. If one is fortunate enough to come to the point of bhakti-yoga, it is to be understood that he has surpassed all other yogas. Therefore, to become Kṛṣṇa conscious is the highest stage of yoga, just as, when we speak of Himālayan, we refer to the world’s highest mountains, of which the highest peak, Mount Everest, is considered to be the culmination.

So Rathin prabhu, karma yoga has to be below jnana yoga according to the purport. Awaiting for more enlightenment on this from others 🙂

your servant

Shreyas

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Devotees and Karma

Preethi, 17th March 2013

Hare Krishna

Please accept my humble obeisances

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

All glories to the Vaishnavas

I read in some places that devotees of the Lord are not affected by Maya or Karma. And then in some places I read of devotees being ‘tested’ put through some rough times and hardships and then we look at that as being part and parcel of this material world and the clutches of Maya / Karma.

So then does that mean devotees are effected by Karma / Maya or not and if people are affected, then does that mean they are not doing enough in Krishna Consciousness as a result they are being put through tough times?

My other question is this: I notice that some senior vaishnava devotees speak of ‘forgiveness’ and ‘tolerance’ and ‘patience’ and that everything can be achieved and everyone can be conquered (thru love prasadam patience chanting and devotion). But, I find that very hard to possess or display. The feeling that: I will tolerate and withstand anything but I will not hurt anyone even if they have hurt me – I feel that is very hard to fathom for me. Is that something that will come as my attachment to Krishna increases? Is it also possible I never reach that state?

Requesting your valuable guidance.

Hari Bol
Preethi

Sanil, 17th March 2013

Hare Krishna
Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Gurudeva

The devotees of the Lord are not affected by maya or karma.  Because they are not bothered about what is happening, their concentration is in pleasing Krishna.  Though the devotee is very careful in each and every words and deeds, to avoid material contaminations in their actions, there could be imperfections.  Due to this imperfection, the result can be either good or bad. But devotee is not looking at the results, he is going on serving Krishna.  So, the devotee is not affected by the results whatever it may be.

We should be detached from all material things including our spouse and children.  This relationship is imperfect since this relation is like a business, you are pleasing me so I am pleasing you. When the spouse stops serving or incapable of serving then the issue starts and getting complicated.  So, instead of having material attachment, we should have transcendental attachment.

Detachment means transcendental attachment as Srila Gurudeva said in a recent Thought of the Day.  Also, Srila Gurudeva told that you can have attachments to devotees and  to have the  attachment to the devotee as much as possible.  This attachment is due to being the devotee of Krishna, so this is in relation with Krishna.  Like that we can have transcendental attachment to anything (to the spouse, dog eater, dogs, etc) realising that they are pure souls and they are part and parcel of Krishna. So, we must treat everything and everybody with ultimate care and love, even material things like cars, home, bikes, etc. So, we will naturally forgive, tolerate and patient.  In short we will become perfect lovers if our tove towards Krishna is perfect.

your servant,
Sanil kumar

Rathin Mandal, 17th March 2013

Hare Krishna,
Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumataji,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I am only presenting my understanding here Mataji.

Pure devotees of Sri Krishna are not affected by the dualities of nature. For them happiness or distress is all same. They take everything as a mercy of Supreme Lord. If something good happens to them then they will say that it is gift of Supreme Lord to this unworthy servant. And for distress they will say that although I am eligible for much more, by mercy of Sri Krishna I am receiving only so little.

Qualities of pure devotee is described as such by Sri Krishna:

BG 12.18-19: One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contaminating association, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn’t care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and who is engaged in devotional service — such a person is very dear to Me.

We can say that karma is something just like seasonal changes. When the soul embodied in this planet, he has to go through all the seasons. Sometime he may feel very cold and other times he may feel very hot. Other times it may be pleasant. Things like this will keep on happening till the soul resides on the material planet.

But if he trains himself with pure love and devotion for Lord, then only he can understand the science of Maya. And he finds his way on interacting with it.

For the second part of the question, we should take example from Mother Sita. Ravana took her away from Sri Ram and held her as prisoner in Lanka. Mother Sita is internal potency of Supreme Personality of Godhead and way powerful than Ravana. She could have easily punished Ravana. But in human form she was a simple lady. So she accepted to be held as prisoner. She also accepted all the torture given by Raksasis.

We can also learn from Sri Laxman. He was never given the exile. Still he went out with Sri Ram, lived in forest and accepted all the unpleasant things. But he never said that why this things happen to me.

I believe that if the one who can continue with chanting of Hare Krishna matamantra even in time of distress, he can attain the qualities that Sri Krishna wants a person to have.

your Servant
Rathin

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 19th March 2013

Hare Krishna Preethi,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Gurudeva.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

First and foremost, it is very auspicious that you are asking these questions. It means you recognize that there is a beginning position and a advanced position, and you want to get to advanced position.
Thank you also to those who answered, very nice answers that display your strong understanding of our process and philosophy.

To both questions, I beg to answer that it is a gradual process. It is not that one will never “get there”, one who tries, the process is scientific (results are repeatable) and gradual advancement is made as long as one continues to try. It is almost imperceptible when and how someone got to some stage, but that is seen by us in our own heart as a feeling of really feeling fallen. An advanced devotee feels very lowly and fallen, even though other devotees and even ordinary persons can see their exalted nature. The Goswamis were liked by all, the saints and the rogues… because they were not envious of anyone.

To give you another example, here in Toronto, we have one shiksha guru who came to teach us a few things.i. Her Grace Kamalini Mataji. She is a direct disciple of Srila Prabhupada, a wonderful wife and mother, she distributes books every single day no matter where she is, and she teaches us by personal example. She is a great great inspiration to the Vaishnavis here at the temple.

But yesterday, when it was my service to give the Sunday feast class, she humbly sat in the audience on the floor! She listened attentively and she came to ask me a question! Can you imagine that, a person 40+ years my senior in devotional service asking me, a lowly neophyte a question? And it was not asked in a “let me see if you know this” mood – she genuinely wanted to hear what I would say. Very humble devotee. Very advanced. And such persons are able to touch hearts and transform consciousness simply by the force of their humility.

But they didn’t necessarily set out to try to be perfect… they sincerely followed the process of devotional service, which includes a continuous effort to develop various Vaishnava qualities, to chant Hare Krishna offenselessly, to give others what we have, to share, to care, to serve the Vaishnavas, to act as Krishna has instructed us to act, to follow strictly the orders of the spiritual master, and to not see oneself as anything other than insignificant.

But along the way, the weight of their devotional service gave them certain perfections, certain power, certain strengths, and among those strengths are to be tolerant, forgiving, humble, kind, generous, dependence on Krishna, consciousness of Krishna, remembrance of Krishna, love for Krishna, respect and affection for the devotees, and much much more.

Specifically, to see a devotee who may be externally sufferingor enjoying and to assume that this is karma is not very nice, even if the devotee may say that it is karma, no, Krishna is personally involved. When a devotee stays devoted, it is an example to the rest of us how to behave when we are inevitably tested. Did Bhishma have any karma? Did Kuntidevi have karma? Did Draupadi have Karma? Did Arjuna have karma? No, they are eternal associates of the Lord. Anyone who apparently suffers or enjoys but does not forget Krishna, that is not karma, that is Krishna acting.

But anyone whose suffering or enjoyment causes forgetfulness of Krishna, that is karma. 🙂 So that is the litmus test, have I forgotten Krishna or am doing less service, oh, then I am not surrendered, I am karmi to that extent which I have forgotten. But if I have not forgotten Krishna, then it is Krishna’s mercy, not some kind of qualification…

Same thing with forgiveness… actually forgiveness is not only a mercy upon others – to the extent we do not forgive, we hold ourselves back from making spiritual progress… but this is a BIG topic too.

Keep at it Mataji, that’s all I can say, please keep trying.

Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 19th March 2013

Would like to share this writing by His Grace Sriman Vaisesika Prabhu, which is very appropriate:

“Trials and difficulties give us the opportunity to show Krishna our sincerity. Those who prepare themselves for these tests by being vigilant in their bhakti practice during the good and easy times, will be well prepared for the difficult tests that Krishna sends to help one advance on the path of bhakti.

“Krishna can provide anything and everything within a moment, but He waits to test a devotee. And when the devotee comes out successful from the test, He gives him all opportunity for devotional service.” (SPL to Rsi Kumara, 11th April, 1970) Om Tat Sat”
Preethi, 19th March 2013

Hare Krishna
Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
All glories to the Vaishnavas

Thank you Mahabhagavat Das Prabhuji, Sanil Prabhu & Rathin Prabhu for your answers with examples. I suppose when we encounter difficulties one way to look at it is yes my sincerity is being tested but it also makes me wonder if I am truly a devotee because I see that the more resilient someone gets the more tougher the situation seems to get. Our mind can be our greatest friend or worst enemy depending on what we feed it and how we train it. During distress it tempts us to cheat and side track especially when one is low and shaken it is all the more easy to forget about the Absolute Truth, but perserverance, patience and constant thoughts of Him and Him alone will save us. Having devotee association ensures that even if we get left behind, someone will be holding out a helping hand. Thank you all for your wise words.

I know with devotional service and constantly doing things in Krishna’s service will slowly yield results. I have a long long way to go in my service, in my bhakti and service for Krishna but being in all your company and association makes me feel like I am very fortunate for being guided and shown the right path.

Hari Bol
Preethi

DK, 20th March 2013

Hare Krishna
Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
All glories to the Vaishnavas

Preethi jee,

It was one of the six promises made by Lord Krishna himself.

Sri Krishna promises: “Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me, and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.” (9.34)

“Loving service unto the Personality of Godhead is established as an irrevocable fact.” Irrevocable: permanent, cannot be changed. Whatever we do for Krishna in this life is permanent and will stay with us even after the demise of this one body and this one temporary life.

Hare Krishna.

Krishna’s Servant
Deepak

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How does the Hare Krishna Mahamantra Work?

Priyesh Shah, 30th June 2011

Hare Krishna

Please Accept My Humble Obeisances

All Glories To Srila Prabhupada

I am a little confused as to how the Maha Mantra works. For the last 2 years, since I joined ISKCON, I was under the impression that when you chant the Maha Mantra, the roots of the sinful activities are destroyed, and therefore the fruits would also be destroyed. However, another devotee yesterday mentioned that actually the Karma does not go away. As long as you have the material body, the Karma will stay and continue to act as they were meant to. But when you chant and do devotional service, Krishna arranges the Karma to act in a way which is favourable to Krishna Consciousness. Would anyone kindly be able to tell me as to how this works?

Thank you,

Your Servant,

Priyesh

Jagannatha Dasa, 30th June 2011

Hare Krishna Priyesh,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Karma has two important meanings.

1. Action

2. Reactions

When we act in a certain way, that action is karma. The reaction to that activity will perpetuate further activity. The reaction is also karma. In this way actions create reactions and then further actions in a chain which *appears* endless. The seemingly eternal appearence of karma is however an illusion.

Of the five topics explained in Bhagavad Gita…

1. Isvara (Krishna)

2. Jiva (living beings)

3. Prakrti (material nature)

4. Kala (time)

5. Karma (fruitive activity)

 …four are eternal, but karma is the one which is temporary.

 When you act, the reaction only lasts so long, even in this life. Otherwise we would only need, for example, to eat once and we would be eternally satisfied.

Now, someone may argue using the following two questions:

1. “Fine, each action has a limited reaction in terms of both time and space. But isn’t there an eternal chain of actions and reactions which are always being manifested, one after another?”

and

2. “Even if karma is temporary, isn’t it influencing us at least for the duration of time in which we have a material body?”

In the spiritual world, the will of Krishna and his pure devotees who reside there are eternally enjoying without any question of karma. Therefore the chain of karma is itself limited, not eternal because it does not extend to the realm of Krishna.

Even in this world a pure devotee is free from karma. Otherwise, he would take birth again in this material world goaded on by a complicated network of material desires.

This is confirmed throughout Vedic literatures and by all acaryas:

Sri Brahma Samhita

yas tv indragopam athavendram aho sva-karma-

bandhanurüpa-phala-bhajanam atanoti

karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhajam

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

“I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who burns up to their roots all fruitive activities of those who are imbued with devotion and impartially ordains for each the due enjoyment of the fruits of one’s activities, of all those who walk in the path of work, in accordance with the chain of their previously performed works, no less in the case of the tiny insect that bears the name of indragopa than in that of Indra, king of the devas.”

(emphasis added)

Srimad Bhagavad-Gita

sarva-dharman parityajya

mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo

moksayisyami ma sucah

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.”

Srimad Bhagavatam

yan-namadheyah mriyamana aturah

patan skhalan va vivaso grnan puman

vimukta-karmargala uttamam gatim

prapnoti yaksyanti na tam kalau janah

“Sri harinama is glorious! Chanted in any condition of life, whether almost dead, deathly sick, slipping, falling, or in any semi-conscious state, the name of SrI Bhagavän releases the chanting person from the bondage of karmic reactions and promotes him to the highest goal of spiritual achievement. The real pity is that the fallen people of Kali-yuga refuse to execute this devotional activity.”

Srila Rupa Gosvami

yad-brahma-saksat-krti-nisthayapi

vinasam ayati vina na bhogaih

apaiti nama sphuranena tat te

prarabdha-karmeti virauti vedah

“The seeds of sinful activities that cause rebirth for their fruition are not totally destroyed despite realization of oneness with Brahman through constant meditation. But, O Lord, as soon as Your holy names manifest on the tongue (even in the form of namabhasa) all seeds of sinful activities are totally uprooted. This is elaborately glorified in the Vedas.”

There are more examples, but I hope this will help.

Your servant,

-Jagannatha dasa

 

Raj, 30th June 2011

Hare Krishna Prabhu ji,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

This is my first attempt to participate.

Thanks for providing details about Karma . You mentioned Karma has 2 meanings .(Action and Reaction ). Is it that Karma has 2 parts ( Action and Reaction)? Please clarify.

Also you mentioned that “When you act, the reaction only lasts so long, even in this life”, Does this mean that our action in this life has reaction limited only to this life?

Because on many occasions people state that this is because of yours past karmas, this mean that karmas are also carry forward.

Please help

Raj

 

Chris Sookoo, 30th June 2011

Sir

This is one beautiful and eloquent analysis that I have had the pleasure of reading. Thanks to the mind that put it together.

Regards,

csookoo

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 30th June 2011

Jagannatha Prabhu,

 

Very grateful for that! I learned a lot from your detailed answer. Thank you.

Your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

Priyesh Shah, 1st July 2011

 Hare Krishna Jagannatha Prabhu, A wonderful answer. Thank you for clearing my doubt and enlightening me with that knowledge.

 Your Servant,

Priyesh

 Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 17th April 2012

Dear Raj Kumar,

Hare Krishna!

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Due to the efforts of one of our other group members Dr. Sunil Vaswani, I realized that your questions below were not answered. Please forgive us for this oversight.

>u mentioned Karma has 2 meanings .(Action and Reaction ). Is it that Karma has 2 parts( >Action and Reaction) . Pls clarify.

Yes, this is correct. Every action has a reaction associated with it, and every reaction has another set of actions associated with it – this is like a seed which is thrown on the ground… after some time, the seed sprouts, and the plant grows, it becomes a tree, and the tree yields fruits, the fruits have seeds, which again fall on the ground, giving rise to more trees, and this cycle continues. There are more karmas than meet the eye… they are in unmanifest state.

One cannot counter karma with karma – it is an endless cycle – so if someone does something bad, to atone for it, they do something good – they don’t cancel each other out. The person will experience effects of both, the good karmas (karma) and the bad karmas (vikarma). Devotional service though, is without reactions, and eliminates accumulated reactions, so it is called akarma. This is also described in Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Sri Ishopanishad Verse 2:

“Actions that are performed in terms of one’s prescribed duties, as mentioned in the revealed scriptures, are called karma. Actions that free one from the cycle of birth and death are called akarma. And actions that are performed through the misuse of one’s freedom and that direct one to the lower life forms are called vikarma. Of these three types of action, that which frees one from the bondage to karma is preferred by intelligent men. Ordinary men wish to perform good work in order to be recognized and achieve some higher status of life in this world or in heaven, but more advanced men want to be free altogether from the actions and reactions of work. Intelligent men well know that both good and bad work equally bind one to the material miseries. Consequently they seek that work which will free them from the reactions of both good and bad work”

In the Padma Purana, it is stated:

aprarabdha-phalam papam kutam bijam phalonmukham

kramenaiva praliyeta vishnu-bhakti-ratatmanam

In this verse it states that karma can be lying in seed form, it can be dormant, or it can be bearing fruits. Nevertheless, whatever stage a karmic reaction may be in, it is gradually eliminated by performing devotional service.

Your second question:

Also u mentioned that “When you act, the reaction only lasts so long, even in this life” ,does this mean that our action in this life has reaction limited only to this life.

This is a misunderstanding of what Jagannatha Prabhu intended. He did not mean that the effects of karma last exactly not more than one lifetime. When you take his entire response and all the verses quoted into context, you can see that he is using that sentence just for example – like for example, if someone steals something, then they may be punished for a few days, few weeks, few months, few years, eventually they will be released – so he means that the reactions are temporary, even though sometimes they may transcend lifetimes. The example is that one child may be born to cultured parents, good chance of being cultured, though not always the case. Another child may be born to uncultured parents, good chance of being uncultured, but sometimes the child may become cultured through other association… same thing with bodily beauty, health, intelligence, etc.

I hope that this response was useful and you will resume your participation soon.

 Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

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Karma kanda and bhakti

Sanil Kumar, Sep 14 2011

Dear devotees,

 Hare Krishna

Kindly accept my humble obeisances

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

 I am a little confused about Karma Kanda and bhakti.  In BG, Lord Krishna asks Arjuna to continue his occupational duty as a Kshatriya and fight with Kauravas for Krishna with mind fixed on Him.

In line with recent Thought of the Day by Srila Gurudeva, If we do our normal occupational duties (with detachment) for Krishna with targeting 100% perfection to please Krishna 100%, and spending the opulence thus obtained in Krishna conscious way, does it not a bhakti yoga?

Is doing occupational duty karma yoga?

Kindly guide me.

Your humble servant,

Sanil kumar

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, Sep 15 2011

Hare Krishna Sanil Kumar Prabhu,

 Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada and his glorious disciples.

 Thank you for your question Prabhu. You do bring up an important point, what is the difference between Bhakti and Karma Kanda.

Yes, we all must perform our occupational duties, for a Grihastha, of working, maintaining family, and supporting Krishna conscious projects. Even Srila Prabhupada himself did this. My spiritual master did this also. Ideally, this means to get sufficient money ethically to advance Krishna Consciousness in ourselves, our family, friends, and society at large, according to our capacity.

But Karma Kanda sections of the Vedic literature are not really an occupational duty for most of us. Karma Kanda means those Vedic sacrifices which result in elevated birth, life in heavenly planet, etc. There are thousands of them, and if you try to perform them, it will be impossible to perform them perfectly, the required circumstances just don’t exist on this planet currently. Yes, Krishna asked Arjuna to perform his duty, and fight. But in the present day and age, even the so-called Brahmanas by birth are actually Shudras and lower than Shudras. Why is this? What is the occupational duty of a Shudra “paricharyatmakam”, means service to others in exchange for money. Practically the whole world population is doing this, simply serving someone else, and that someone else is serving someone else, and so on. There are practically no Kshatriyas left. Yes, there are some Brahmanas left, they don’t depend on anyone but the Lord for their livelihood, and they don’t do anything for the sake of earning money, if money comes they accept but they don’t avoid something just because there is/is not money involved. They don’t treat a money-giver separate from a no-money-giver. There are also some Vaishyas left, especially those who engage in cow protection. But otherwise, 99.9999% of population is pursuing Shudra occupations. So, most people in general are not even qualified to follow or lead the Vedic Karma Kanda sections which are very elaborate.

Bhakti is the bonus for this day and age, thanks to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy upon us. Anyone can practice it. No qualifications needed, except the greed to serve the devotees Prabhu. Laulyam. Greed. Also for the Holy Name, for Krishna, to please the spiritual master.

The main difference between Karma Kanda and Bhakti, is that Karma Kanda is for the satisfaction of the material senses, whether present or future, even though there is some purification.

However, Bhakti is 100% for the pleasure of Krishna, and there is natural transcendental pleasure in it, but it is not obtained by trying to get pleasure, rather by trying to give pleasure to Krishna and the devotees.

So if we are engaging in the occupational duty solely with the desire to please Krishna, then it is Bhakti, otherwise, it is just Karma.

And if we are using the proceeds of the activities for Krishna Conscious activities, then it is Karma Yoga. In fact, the perfection of Karma Yoga is Bhakti Yoga… in other words if someone is completely pure, then there is no question of anything other than pure 100% Bhakti. But if there is a tinge of tendency to mentally speculate, then it if jnana-mishra bhakti, not pure, and if there is a tinge of desire to enjoy the results, then it is karma-mishra bhakti, not pure Bhakti.

I am not pure by any stretch of the imagination; all sorts of contaminations are there. But I am not disheartened, because I see that by following the process of chanting, following the regulative principles, and obeying the orders of the Guru, some more attraction for Krishna and the Holy Name and service to the devotees and service to all the living entities is developing, even if it is 0.00001%, it was 0.0% before, so the process is working.

Your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

 Premal, Sep 15 2011

Hare Krishna Prabhu

All glories to Swami Prabhupada

Please accept my humble obeisances

Prabhu what does tinge of mental speculation and material desires by example if you could kindly give?

Ys servant

Premal

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, Sep 15 2011

Hare Krishna Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 We must understand that pure bhakti is much higher than jnana which is higher than karma.

A pure devotee is very simple; they are not interested in philosophical speculation or any kind of opulence. They have a relationship with Krishna, and they will do whatever is needed in that relationship, but they are not interested in anything outside. Mother Yashoda is a pure devotee. If anyone tells her that her son is God, she will think they have lost their marbles. She thinks that Krishna will die if she does not feed Him milk sweets… their devotion is completely untinged. They want nothing from Krishna except to serve Him.

Example for the most advanced devotees with material desires, or “karma mishra Bhakta” are the “suras” or the demigods, like Indra, Chandra, Vivaswan (king of Sun planet), even Lord Brahma, etc. They are definitely devotees, but they have the desire to control, create, and enjoy, so therefore, according to their natures and according to their pious credits or “punya”, they are given the respective posts, a long life, etc. But after that life, if they have not become fully purified, then they must come back to material world in a lower position… this is an endless process of going up and down the ladder unless one regains pure devotional service.

Krishna says:

te tam bhuktva svarga-lokam visalam

ksine punye martya-lokam visanti

evam trayi-dharmam anuprapanna

gatagatam kama-kama labhante

“When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.” BG 9.21.

In a lecture dated Feb 5, 2010, His Holiness Bhanu Swami is explaining this very nicely.

http://iskcon-transcriptions.com/transcriptions/mayapur_lectures/hh-bhanu-swami-sb-3-32-22/

Especially, see this section:

“The karmi goes to Svargaloka or Brahmaloka. So what does the karma misra bhakta get? He must get better than that. So yes he does. He can actually get sarupya, salokya, and sarsti in the spiritual world. That much he can get. What about the jnana misra bhakta? He is a little bit of jnana. Next to it is bhakti. Little bit of desire to escape from the material world and get peace and all that. He gets more than the jnani gets. The jnani has mostly jnana and a little bit bhakti. He gets liberation, impersonal liberation – merges in Brahman, sayuja. One who has bhakti with a little bit of jnana must go beyond that. So yes of course – spiritual world, develops a little relationship with the Lord, santa rasa.

 

Why santa rasa? Because he wants to be peaceful! That jnana mixture is there in his bhakti. So he wants peace. So he gets that in the spiritual world. This type of person will not appreciate the gopis. The gopis are not peaceful at all. They are always in anxiety. “Where is Krishna?” If they are separated from Krishna for one second they are disturbed. They pray that Brahma made a fault because he made eyelids. When we blink our eyelids we cannot see Krishna for a second so they curse Brahma because that one second when their eyelids close they cannot see Krishna causes separation. And they become very disturbed.

 

So the devotees of the spiritual world are subject to that especially when you go higher and higher in the rasas. So the people that want to be peaceful will not be very attracted to that. So they are very content with the santa rasa, a very peaceful relationship in the spiritual world. This is what happens when you get mixed bhakti. It is better than karma yoga, jnana yoga, astanga yoga with a little bhakti and of course if you do just without bhakti you get nothing.  If you do karma yoga and astanga yoga with bhakti you get a result. If you do this you get better. All bhakti and no mixture then we get these develop relationships with the Supreme Lord, which is very satisfying.”

 Your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

How does the Maha Mantra Work?

Priyesh Shah,30th June 2011

Hare Krishna

Please Accept my humble obeisances

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

I am a little confused as to how the Maha Mantra works. For the last 2 years, since I joined ISKCON, I was under the impression that when you chant the Maha Mantra, the roots of the sinful activities are destroyed, and therefore the fruits would also be destroyed. However, another devotee yesterday mentioned that actually the Karma does not go away. As long as you have the material body, the Karma will stay and continue to act as they were meant to. But when you chant and do devotional service, Krishna arranges the Karma to act in a way which is favourable to Krishna Consciousness. Would anyone kindly be able to tell me as to how this works?

Thank you,

Your Servant,

Priyesh

Jagannatha das,30th June 2011

Hare Krishna Priyesh,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Karma has two important meanings.

1.  Action

2.  Reactions

When we act in a certain way, that action is karma.  The reaction to that activity will perpetuate further activity.  The reaction is also karma.  In this way actions create reactions and then further actions in a chain which *appears* endless.  The seemingly eternal appearence of karma is however an illusion.

Of the five topics explained in Bhagavad Gita…

1. Isvara (Krishna)

2. Jiva (living beings)

3. Prakrti (material nature)

4. Kala (time)

5. Karma (fruitive activity)

…four are eternal, but karma is the one which is temporary.

When you act, the reaction only lasts so long, even in this life.  Otherwise we would only need, for example, to eat once and we would be eternally satisfied.

Now, someone may argue using the following two questions:

1.  “Fine, each action has a limited reaction in terms of both time and space.  But isn’t there an eternal chain of actions and reactions which are always being manifested, one after another?”

and

2. “Even if karma is temporary, isn’t it influencing us at least for the duration of time in which we have a material body?”

In the spiritual world, the will of Krishna and his pure devotees who reside there are eternally enjoying without any question of karma.  Therefore the chain of karma is itself limited, not eternal because it does not extend to the realm of Krishna.

Even in this world a pure devotee is free from karma.  Otherwise, he would take birth again in this material world goaded on by a complicated network of material desires.

This is confirmed throughout Vedic literatures and by all acaryas:

Sri Brahma Samhita

yas tv indragopam athavendram aho sva-karma-

bandhanurüpa-phala-bhajanam atanoti

karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhajam

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who burns up to their roots all fruitive activities of those who are imbued with devotion and impartially ordains for each the due enjoyment of the fruits of one’s activities, of all those who walk in the path of work, in accordance with the chain of their previously performed works, no less in the case of the tiny insect that bears the name of indragopa than in that of Indra, king of the devas.

(emphasis added)

Srimad Bhagavad-Gita

sarva-dharman parityajya

mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo

moksayisyami ma sucah

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.

Srimad Bhagavatam

yan-namadheyah mriyamana aturah

patan skhalan va vivaso grnan puman

vimukta-karmargala uttamam gatim

prapnoti yaksyanti na tam kalau janah

Sri harinama is glorious! Chanted in any condition of life, whether almost dead, deathly sick, slipping, falling, or in any semi-conscious state, the name of SrI Bhagavän releases the chanting person from the bondage of karmic reactions and promotes him to the highest goal of spiritual achievement. The real pity is that the fallen people of Kali-yuga refuse to execute this devotional activity.

Srila Rupa Gosvami

yad-brahma-saksat-krti-nisthayapi

vinasam ayati vina na bhogaih

apaiti nama sphuranena tat te

prarabdha-karmeti virauti vedah

The seeds of sinful activities that cause rebirth for their fruition are not totally destroyed despite realization of oneness with Brahman through constant meditation. But, O Lord, as soon as Your holy names manifest on the tongue (even in the form of namabhasa) all seeds of sinful activities are totally uprooted. This is elaborately glorified in the Vedas.

There are more examples, but I hope this will help.

Your servant,

-Jagannatha dasa

Raj, 30th June 2011

Hare Krishna Prabhu ji,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

This is my first attempt to participate.

Thanks for providing details about Karma . u mentioned Karma has 2 meanings .(Action and Reaction ). Is it that Karma has 2 parts( Action and Reaction) . Pls clarify.

Also u mentioned that “When you act, the reaction only lasts so long, even in this life” ,does this mean that our action in this life has reaction limited only to this life.

Because on many occasions people state that this is because of urs past karmas, this mean that karmas are also carry forward.pls help

Chris Sookoo, 30th June 2011

Sir

This is one beautiful and eloquent analysis that I have had the pleasure of reading.Thanks to the mind that put it together.

regards

csookoo

Mahabhagavat Das SDA,30th June 2011

Jagannatha Dasa Prabhu,

Very grateful for that! I learned a lot from your detailed answer. Thank you.

Your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das

Priyesh Shah,01st July 2011

Hare Krishna Jagannatha Prabhu,

A wonderful answer. Thank you for clearing my doubt and enlightening me with that knowledge.

Your Servant,

Priyesh

Mahabhagavat Das, 16th April 2012

Dear Raj Kumar,

Hare Krishna!
Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Due to the efforts of one of our other group members Dr. Sunil Vaswani, I realized that your questions below were not answered. Please forgive us for this oversight.

>u mentioned Karma has 2 meanings .(Action and Reaction ). Is it that Karma has 2 parts( >Action and Reaction) . Pls clarify.

Yes, this is correct. Every action has a reaction associated with it, and every reaction has another set of actions associated with it – this is like a seed which is thrown on the ground… after some time, the seed sprouts, and the plant grows, it becomes a tree, and the tree yields fruits, the fruits have seeds, which again fall on the ground, giving rise to more trees, and this cycle continues. There are more karmas than meet the eye… they are in unmanifest state.

One cannot counter karma with karma – it is an endless cycle – so if someone does something bad, to atone for it, they do something good – they don’t cancel each other out. The person will experience effects of both, the good karmas (karma) and the bad karmas (vikarma). Devotional service though, is without reactions, and eliminates accumulated reactions, so it is called akarma. This is also described in Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Sri Ishopanishad Verse 2:

“Actions that are performed in terms of one’s prescribed duties, as mentioned in the revealed scriptures, are called karma. Actions that free one from the cycle of birth and death are called akarma. And actions that are performed through the misuse of one’s freedom and that direct one to the lower life forms are called vikarma. Of these three types of action, that which frees one from the bondage to karma is preferred by intelligent men. Ordinary men wish to perform good work in order to be recognized and achieve some higher status of life in this world or in heaven, but more advanced men want to be free altogether from the actions and reactions of work. Intelligent men well know that both good and bad work equally bind one to the material miseries. Consequently they seek that work which will free them from the reactions of both good and bad work”

In the Padma Purana, it is stated:

aprarabdha-phalam papam kutam bijam phalonmukham

kramenaiva praliyeta vishnu-bhakti-ratatmanam

In this verse it states that karma can be lying in seed form, it can be dormant, or it can be bearing fruits. Nevertheless, whatever stage a karmic reaction may be in, it is gradually eliminated by performing devotional service.

Your second question:

>Also u mentioned that “When you act, the reaction only lasts so long, even in this life” ,does >this mean that our action in this life has reaction limited only to this life.

This is a misunderstanding of what Jagannatha Prabhu intended. He did not mean that the effects of karma last exactly not more than one lifetime. When you take his entire response and all the verses quoted into context, you can see that he is using that sentence just for example – like for example, if someone steals something, then they may be punished for a few days, few weeks, few months, few years, eventually they will be released – so he means that the reactions are temporary, even though sometimes they may transcend lifetimes. The example is that one child may be born to cultured parents, good chance of being cultured, though not always the case. Another child may be born to uncultured parents, good chance of being uncultured, but sometimes the child may become cultured through other association… same thing with bodily beauty, health, intelligence, etc.

I hope that this response was useful and you will resume your participation soon.

Sincerely,
Mahabhagavat Das